Ata-Zhurt ( ky, Ата-журт, , sometimes romanized as Ata-Jurt) is a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the ea ...

. Its political base is in the south of the country, but the party is headquartered in the capital

Bishkek Bishkek ( ky, Бишкек), ), formerly Pishpek and Frunze, is the capital and largest city of Kyrgyzstan. Bishkek is also the administrative centre of the Chüy Region. The region surrounds the city, although the city itself is not part of ...

. The party is led by Kamchybek Tashiyev, and has previously supported the ousted former President Kurmanbek Bakiyev.

2010 parliamentary elections

In the Kyrgyzstani parliamentary election, 2010, the party said it would seek to restore Bakiyev to power, and claimed it was more popular than the interim government. The party also suggested it would roll back the 2010 referendum and restore the

presidency A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified by ...

to its former state. On 7 October, the party's headquarters in Bishkek were ransacked and party literature set on fire by a groups of demonstrators who called for the party to be banned. The demonstrators allegedly included family members of the victims of April 2010 violence in Bishkek. In the election, the party won a number of seats from its traditional southern bastion, though it barely passed the threshold in the capital and the Chuy region. The party received the votes of 8.89% of eligible voters, giving it 28 of 120 seats in parliament. This result made the party the first of five parties to surpass the support threshold of 5% of eligible voters necessary to enter parliament. As a result, Ata-Zhurt was part of the governing coalition with its MP Akhmatbek Keldibekov chosen as Speaker of Parliament. Among the party's parliamentary

deputies A legislator (also known as a deputy or lawmaker) is a person who writes and passes laws, especially someone who is a member of a legislature. Legislators are often elected by the people of the state. Legislatures may be supra-national (for e ...

are some individuals of non-Kyrgyz ancestry, including Ravshanbek Sabirov, the first Tajik to hold such a position, and Roman Shin.

Violence

Kamchibek Tashiyev, the head of Ata-Zhurt, said he had been attacked in his home on 23 October 2010. "They broke in like bandits...I think they intended to shoot me. I believe they tried to eliminate me — the forces that want to cancel election results and impose a state of emergency. I know for sure, GSNB (security services) was behind these actions."

References

External links

Ata-Jurt website
{{Kyrgyzstani political parties Political parties in Kyrgyzstan Political parties established in 2004 2004 establishments in Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyz Revolution of 2010