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 ...
in
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. The party is led by
Kamchybek Tashiyev
Kamchybek Kydyrshaevich Tashiev ( ky, Камчыбек Кыдыршаевич (Кыдырша уулу) Ташиев, Kamchybek Kydyrshayevich (Kydyrsha uulu) Tashiev; born 27 September 1968) is a Kyrgyzstani politician who was head of the politica ...
, and has previously supported the ousted former President
Kurmanbek Bakiyev
Kurmanbek Saliyevich Bakiyev (, ''Kurmanbek Saliyevich (Sali Uulu) Bakiyev''; born 1 August 1949) is a Kyrgyz politician who served as the second President of Kyrgyzstan, from 2005 to 2010. Large opposition protests in April 2010 led to the tak ...
.
2010 parliamentary elections
In the
Kyrgyzstani parliamentary election, 2010
Early parliamentary elections were held in Kyrgyzstan on 10 October 2010. All 120 seats of the Supreme Council were elected by the party list system.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 b ...
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
Chuy () is a city in the extreme east of Uruguay, in the Rocha Department, northeast of Montevideo. It lies on the border with Brazil, separated from its Brazilian sister town of Chuí only by a shared avenue that serves as the border, and by th ...
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
Akhmatbek Keldibekov (born 16 June 1966) was the Speaker of Parliament in Kyrgyzstan as of 17 December 2010, in office until 2011. He is a member of the Ata-Zhurt party. He was elected with 101 votes in favour and 14 against as part of the format ...
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 ex ...
are some individuals of non-Kyrgyz ancestry, including
Ravshanbek Sabirov
Ravshanbek Sabirov is a deputy in the Jogorku Kenesh, the parliament of Kyrgyzstan, and a member of the Ata Meken Socialist Party
The Ata-Meken Socialist Party ( ky, Ата-Мекен Социалисттик Партиясы, Ata-Meken Sotsiali ...
Roman Shin
Roman Alexandrovich Shin (; born September 12, 1948) is a deputy in the Jogorku Kenesh, the parliament of Kyrgyzstan, and a member of the Ata-Zhurt party. He is member of the minority Korean ethnic group. Roman Shin has been a Member of Parliament ...
.
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."