Constitution of Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyzstan adopted its first post-Soviet constitution on 5 May 1993, following independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. A replacement constitution, passed by referendum on 27 June 2010, introduced a strong parliament and reduced the historical power of the presidency. The current constitution, approved by referendum on 11 April 2021 and informally nicknamed the khanstitution, reversed that balance again: it reintroduced a strong president and reduced the power of the legislative branch, a change described by scholars as a shift away from a checks-and-balances system of semi-presidentialism toward a more concentrated, authoritarian-leaning form of presidentialism common elsewhere in the post-Soviet Eurasian space.