Sadyr Japarov

Sadyr Nurgojo uulu Japarov (born 6 December 1968) is a Kyrgyz politician, lobbyist, and legislator who has been serving as the sixth president of Kyrgyzstan since 28 January 2021. He previously served as the 22nd prime minister in the 2020 interim government, following the resignation of President Sooronbay Jeenbekov. Japarov also became acting president of Kyrgyzstan after Jeenbekov's resignation, but resigned on 14 November 2020 to run in the 2021 presidential election, in which he was elected to succeed the acting president, Talant Mamytov.

Japarov began his political career as a deputy in 2005 after being elected to the Supreme Council and from 2007 served in the presidential administration under Kurmanbek Bakiyev before Bakiyev's overthrow in the 2010 Kyrgyz Revolution. Japarov then resumed office as a deputy and held popular rallies to overthrow the Kyrgyz government, supporting attempts to seize the Bishkek White House and allegedly to kidnap an akim, which made it necessary for him to flee Kyrgyzstan in 2013 to avoid prosecution. Japarov returned to Kyrgyzstan in 2017, where he was arrested and sentenced to an 11 year prison term due to his prior illegal political activities. His prison sentence was cut short when he was freed by his supporters during the 2020 Kyrgyz Revolution, leading for his rise to power in Kyrgyzstan.

Japarov's presidency is viewed as authoritarian, as he consolidated power and stifled dissent. Before Japarov took charge, Kyrgyzstan was known for a political climate more open than those of other post-Soviet states of Central Asia. He reintroduced a presidential system via constitutional and government system referendums that increased his executive powers and reduced the parliament's influence, as well as creating the People's Kurultai which resulted in Kyrgyzstan facing democratic backsliding. Several opposition politicians and activists were detained, independent media outlets have been shut down and journalists arrested, and new laws aimed at suppressing independent media were introduced. Under his presidency, the Kyrgyz government has embarked on a program of vastly increased public spending, much of which is going to companies owned by Japarov through complex networks of proxies.