Kyrgyz presidential candidates to take official language test
BISHKEK. July 18 (Interfax) - A resolution adopted by the Kyrgyz government will compel presidential candidates to take an official language test under the Kyrgyz-test system, a government spokesman told Interfax on Tuesday.
Candidates will be tested under the Kyrgyz-test system by an expert commission to be formed by the governmental agency on the official language's development, and the entire test will be automated to avoid an impact of human error on the applicants' score.
"The expert commission will declare the total score gained in four sub-tests, the first of which is lexis, grammar and writing, the second is listening, the third is reading, and fourth is speech," the spokesman said.
"The Law on Presidential Election prescribes that candidates speak the official language at the level of B2 communicative skills or 'higher than average', which are the two upper levels of language knowledge, he said.
"The Kyrgyz-test system was developed consistent with international standards for all applicants for state and municipal positions; it comprises several levels of knowledge of the language, from elementary to advanced," he said.
The Central Elections Commission will approve a schedule of language tests to be taken by presidential candidates after July 31, the nomination deadline, the spokesman said.
In turn, the Kyrgyz Central Elections Commission told Interfax on Tuesday they had received 30 applications from citizens wishing to run for president as of July 18.
"On July 17, the Central Elections Commission received a self-nomination statement from former Kyrgyz Prosecutor General, private lawyer Azimbek Beknazarov," a spokesman for the Central Elections Commission said.
In all, the Central Elections Commission has since June 25 received 25 self-nomination statements and five decisions by political parties, among them the pro-presidential Social Democratic Party which nominated Prime Minister Sooronbai Jeenbekov for president, , he said.
The Kyrgyz presidential election is due to take place on October 15. The term of incumbent President Almazbek Atambayev, who was elected in October 2011, will expire on December 1, 2017. He has no right to run for re-election, in accordance with the Kyrgyz constitution.
