By empty (1/21/2005 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Kyrgyzstan\'s Legislative Assembly passed an amendment to the country\'s election law on 20 January permitting former diplomats to run for office whether or not they meet the five-year in-country residency requirement, RFE/RL\'s Kyrgyz Service reported. The amendment, which still needs President Askar Akaev\'s signature to become law, would come too late to help several would-be candidates from the diplomatic corps who have been barred from running in 27 February parliamentary elections because they have not resided in Kyrgyzstan for the past five years; the deadline for submitting applications to run was 17 January. The in-country residency requirement has eliminated several potential opposition candidates from contention this year, including former Foreign Minister Roza Otunbaeva and ex-envoys Mambetjunus Abylov, Medetkan Sherimkulov, and Usen Sydykov.