Kyrgyz Parliament Elections May Include Presidents' Kin

Local social and political groups have forwarded both as their candidates but official registration does not start until February 23.

The leader of the opposition Social Democratic Party, Almaz Atambaev, told RFE/RL that it would be a mistake for either of the two to run for public office.

"We have seen what might happen, if a president would raise his relatives to official positions," Atammbaev said. "I suppose, both old and new powers [former and current presidents] are going to repeat the same mistake."

Bermet Akaeva ran for a seat in the 2005 parliamentary elections. She was declared the winner but later, after massive demonstrations chased her father from power, the Central Election Commission and courts stripped her of the seat, ruling there were irregularities in voting in her district.

Bermet Akaeva would be running in the Kemin district for a seat left vacant after it was stripped from her brother Aidar, who left the country in 2005.

Janysh Bakiev was the deputy head of Kyrgyzstan's National Security Service until September, when his name was mentioned in connection with an attempt to frame an opposition leader. He would be running for a vacant seat in the Otuzadyr district in southern Kyrgyzstan.