Democracy, Dictatorship, and Term Limits

Appendix: Continuismo and Constitutions

Appendix: Continuismo and Constitutions III: “New Countdown” 1993 Constitution of Kyrgyzstan Article 43(1): The President of the Kyrgyz Republic shall be elected for a term of five years. Article 43(2): The same person cannot be elected President for more than two consecutive terms. July 13, 1998, Decision of the Kyrgyz Constitution Court on the eligibility of the President to participate in 2000 elections. Member of Parliament A. K. Madumarov argued that a first term of President Askar Akayev should be counted from 1990 to 1995, and a second term should be counted from 1995. Considering the existing disagreement about the application of Article 43(2) of the Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic that prohibits the same individual from seeking more than two consecutive terms, the Constitutional Court shall rule on the eligibility of the President of Kyrgyz Republic Askar Akayev to participate in the 2000 presidential elections. The office of the President of the Kyrgyz Soviet Socialist Republic was established ... on October 24, 1990, ... . The first President of Kyrgyz SSR was elected for five years by the Supreme Soviet in a secret ballot, ... the same person cannot seek the office of the President of Kyrgyz SSR more than two consecutive terms. ... Subsequently, ... the Supreme Soviet, after Declaration of the State Sovereignty of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan, on the same day ... assigned the elections of the President of the independent Republic of Kyrgyzstan to be held on October 12, 1991, and ... nominated Askar Akayev for the Presidency. ... Askar Akayev ... was elected as the President of Republic of Kyrgyzstan. The Constitutional Court deems the October 12, 1991 ... voting [vybory] that followed the Declaration of the State Sovereignty ... , and the subsequent election [izbranie] of Askar Akayev as the President of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan, to be a procedure brought about by the objective circumstances and that was carried 261 262 Appendix out in order to ensure legitimacy and authority of the President of the independent state — Republic of Kyrgyzstan. On May 5, 1993, the Supreme Soviet voted for the first Constitution of the independent Republic ... . Considering that the authority of the first President ... was derived from the 1978 Constitution of Kyrgyz SSR, a referendum was held on January 30, 1994, on the subject as to whether “People of Kyrgyzstan affirm that the President of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan, universally elected on October 12, 1991, for five years, is the President of Kyrgyz Republic and has the authority according to the Constitution of Kyrgyz Republic.” ... The May 5, 1993 Constitution introduced new principles of organization of state and governmental bodies, and accordingly modified the magnitude and remit of authority of the President, and thereby ushered in the necessity for further legitimation of the new powers of the President during the duration of the term for which he had been elected under the 1978 Constitution ... , — which [the process of legitimation] in practice was ensured in the January 30, 1994 referendum. The Constitutional Court ... concludes that the term of service of Askar Akayev, based on the 1978 Constitution of Kyrgyz SSR as the President of the union republic Kyrgyzstan, which had been a part of a federal state of the USSR, in the consecutive period of independence of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan cannot be regarded as a term of service of the President of Kyrgyz Republic as stipulated by Article 43 of the Constitution of Kyrgyz Republic. The Constitutional Court decides that ... for the first time as the President of Kyrgyz Republic Askar Akayev was elected only in the December 24, 1995 elections. Based on this argument, ... according to Articles 43 and 45, the first term of presidential mandate to carry out the authority according to the May 5, 1993 Constitution ... is counted from that moment, upon expiration of which [first term] the President of Kyrgyz Republic shall have the right to be eligible for election ... in 2000. Based on the abovementioned argument ... , The Constitutional Court ... Decided: 1. Upon completion of the first term of his mandate, the President of the Kyrgyz Republic Askar Akayev, according to Article 43(2) of the Constitution of Kyrgyz Republic, shall be eligible to run for the Presidency in the forthcoming 2000 elections. ... IV: “Term Length” 1993 Constitution of the Russian Federation Article 81 (1): The President of the Russian Federation shall be elected for a term of four years by the citizens of the Russian Federation on the basis of Appendix 263 general, equal and...