Mr. Dastan Bekeshev MP

Dastan Bekeshev was born on November 22, 1983, in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. In 2001 he finished the School for Blind and Visually Impaired Children in Bishkek. In 2006 he graduated from the Kyrgyz Russian Slavic University and was awarded Lawyer Degree.

Before being elected Member of the Jogork Kenesh, Parliament of Kyrgyzstan, in October 2010, Dastan Bekeshev has been working in the State Tax Committee and in the Ministry of Economy. As a Member of Parliament, he chaired the Human Rights Committee from December 2010 to February 2012. Since February, 2012 he has been Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Legitimacy, Law Enforcement and Fight Against Crime.

Mr. Bekeshev has drafted several important laws among which are the following:

• restriction on alcohol sales;
• more transparent procedure of acquiring the Kyrgyz citizenship;
• more efficient taxation policy towards pawn shops;
• cancellation of latent stamps which could cause great losses for entrepreneurs;
• abolition of so called "class ranks" for civil servants.

Dastan Bekeshev constantly communicates with constituents via his personal website and also a number of social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, and Diesel.elcat.kg Forum. He is also one of the few MPs with a regional office, namely in the remote town Karakol. As one of the strongest voices for a more transparent parliament, he has arranged more than 25 guided tours of the Kyrgyz Parliament for pupils and students so far.

As an active supporter of the rights of people with disabilities, Dastan Bekeshev works hard on implementing important social projects. Thanks to his involvement, the Kyrgyz Society of Blind and Deaf equipped ten of its regional offices with computers, a free Wi-Fi zone for all was launched in Bishkek, and a number of traffic lights in Bishkek will be equipped with audible signals for blind pedestrians.