Kyrgyz then-President Almazbek Atambayev speaks at the Leaders' Roundtable Summit of the Belt and Road Forum (BRF) for International Cooperation at Yanqi Lake International Convention Center in Beijing, capital of China, May 15, 2017. (Xinhua/Lan Hongguang)

BISHKEK, April 1 (Xinhua) -- The ruling Social Democratic Party of Kyrgyzstan (SDPK) said it has elected former President Almazbek Atambayev as its leader at the 17th party congress Saturday.

At a press conference held after the congress, Atambayev said he wiill prepare the SDPK for the parliamentary elections in 2020.

The meeting also summed up the party's work since its last session in July. Party members also discussed the party's future direction.

The SDPK was formed in 1993. Atambayev, who held the post of the president of Kyrgyzstan from 2011 to 2017, had served as the party's leader from 1999 to 2011.

Incumbent President Sooronbay Jeenbekov was nominated as presidential candidate by the SDPK in 2017, who won a presidential election last October with 54 percent of the vote.