AKIPRESS.COM - President Sadyr Japarov commented to Kabar news agency on the public discussion of a regulation allowing candidates for the Parliament to hire up to 1,000 campaigners.

The head of state reminded that under the previous law, candidates were allowed to hire up to 500 campaigners. Since electoral districts have expanded, lawmakers decided to raise the limit to 1,000.

Japarov noted that 1,000 campaigners is a large number.

"No matter how many times I've participated in elections, I've never hired that many campaigners in a single district. I don't think current candidates will either. If someone hires a thousand campaigners, it just means they have a lot of money. But in the end, it's the people who decide. That's why I always urge citizens: don't sell your vote. Of course, this shortcoming can be corrected in future elections. But at the same time, there's no reason to dramatize this rule about a thousand campaigners," he said.

The president added that a limit of 500 campaigners would not have solved the issue either, since it would still be possible to officially register 500 and hire another 500 unofficially, which would be difficult to prove.

"So I'll say it again, the fate of every candidate is not in the hands of campaigners, but in the hands of the people. If the people don't support you, even if you hire one or two thousand campaigners, you won't win," Japarov said.