Snap legislative elections were held in
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental coun ...
on 19 March 2023 to elect the members of the
Mäjilis
The Mäjilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan ( kk, Қазақстан Республикасы Парламенті Мәжілісі, Qazaqstan Respublikasy Parlamentî Mäjîlîsî, also transliterated as Mazhilis; "Assembly" in ...
.
This was the ninth legislative election since Kazakhstan's independence in 1991 and the first
snap election for the Mäjilis seats since
2016. It was held alongside the
local assembly elections.
At the September 2022 State of the Nation Address, President
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev
Kassym-Jomart Kemeluly Tokayev ( kk, Қасым-Жомарт Кемелұлы Тоқаев, Qasym-Jomart Kemelūly Toqaev ; born 17 May 1953) is a Kazakh politician and diplomat who is currently serving as the President of Kazakhstan since 12 Ju ...
announced snap legislative elections to take place in the first half of 2023 in the aftermath of
deadly unrest in January 2022.
During that time, a series of laws and amendments were approved following the
2022 constitutional referendum, which aimed to reform Kazakhstan's political system by granting more parliamentary powers to the lower chamber Mäjilis as well as for its mandate seats to be allocated via
mixed electoral system for the first time since
2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...
.
Following Tokayev's reelection win in the
2022 presidential election, he signed a presidential decree on 19 January 2023 in dissolving the
7th Mäjilis and setting the date for the snap legislative election to take place in March 2023.
A total of seven parties contested the election, including the newly registered parties of
Respublica and
Baytaq, as well as an overwhelming number of
independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independe ...
candidates participating in
electoral districts. Campaigning centered on political and socioeconomic issues such as regional development, national security, agricultural land nationalisation, education, workers' salaries, environmental problems and protection for the
Aral Sea
The Aral Sea ( ; kk, Арал теңізі, Aral teñızı; uz, Орол денгизи, Orol dengizi; kaa, Арал теңизи, Aral teńizi; russian: Аральское море, Aral'skoye more) was an endorheic lake lying between Kazakh ...
and
Syr Darya.
Several independent opposition candidates under the pressure of the Kazakh government were excluded from the ballots due to alleged claims of election law violations during the campaigning period.
Background
The
7th Parliament of Kazakhstan was formed in the aftermath of the
2021 legislative elections,
in which the composition of the lower house
Mäjilis
The Mäjilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan ( kk, Қазақстан Республикасы Парламенті Мәжілісі, Qazaqstan Respublikasy Parlamentî Mäjîlîsî, also transliterated as Mazhilis; "Assembly" in ...
was left unchanged as only three pro-government parties, Nur Otan (now
Amanat),
Aq Jol, and the
People's Party of Kazakhstan, retained their factions in the parliament. The ruling Nur Otan party, though unusually losing more seats, continued to keep their 76-seat supermajority control of the Mäjilis.
The legislative elections were the first to take place following the resignation of President
Nursultan Nazarbayev
Nursultan Abishuly Nazarbayev ( kk, Нұрсұлтан Әбішұлы Назарбаев, Nūrsūltan Äbişūlı Nazarbaev, ; born 6 July 1940) is a Kazakhs, Kazakh politician and military officer who served as the first President of Kazakhstan ...
in 2019. At that time, Nazarbayev continued serving as the chairman of Nur Otan and had held a variety of notable political positions and powers in his post-presidency, most importantly the influential
Security Council
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...
chairmanship. Following the 2021 elections, Mäjilis chairman
Nurlan Nigmatulin
Nurlan Zairollauly Nigmatulin (, born 31 August 1962) is a Kazakh politician who served as the Chair of the Mazhilis from 22 June 2016 to 1 February 2022 and from 20 January 2012 to 3 April 2014. Prior to that, he headed the Presidential Admini ...
(Nur Otan) and Prime Minister
Asqar Mamin were reappointed to their respective posts, along with
Dariga Nazarbayeva returning as a deputy were moves described as a continued political influence held by Nazarbayev over the new parliament due to his control over the ruling party and an open endorsement of those key government names.
Throughout the legislative term of the 7th Parliament, a series of major constitutional and political reforms in par with President
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev
Kassym-Jomart Kemeluly Tokayev ( kk, Қасым-Жомарт Кемелұлы Тоқаев, Qasym-Jomart Kemelūly Toqaev ; born 17 May 1953) is a Kazakh politician and diplomat who is currently serving as the President of Kazakhstan since 12 Ju ...
's policies took place in Kazakhstan with hundreds of proposed bills being passed by the parliament.
2022 unrest and constitutional referendum
In January 2022
massive protests and unrest occurred in Kazakhstan after a sudden hike in
liquefied petroleoum gas (LPG) prices in the city of
Zhanaozen. The protests originally started as small rallies from Zhanaozen with demands in reduction of the LPG prices, but quickly spread grew to nationwide protests in calls for political and socioeconomic reforms. President Tokayev, in a failed attempt to appease the growing protests, pledged to take measures by setting a price cap on LPG and other forms of fuel and basic food products, as well as instituting a moratorium on utility costs and rent subsidies for low-income people. This led him to dismiss
Asqar Mamin's government and enact a
state of emergency
A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to be able to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state du ...
, along with a
deadly force order which was provided by the backing of foreign peacekeeping forces from the
Collective Security Treaty Organization, after chaotic unrest broke out in the largest city of
Almaty
Almaty (; kk, Алматы; ), formerly known as Alma-Ata ( kk, Алма-Ата), is the largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population of about 2 million. It was the capital of Kazakhstan from 1929 to 1936 as an autonomous republic as part of ...
and the rest of Kazakhstan's territory.
As the aftermath of the January 2022 unrest was left with inflicted civilian casualties and costly property damages across the country, President Tokayev – following his takeover of the Security Council chairmanship from Nazarbayev – announced a new wave of political and constitutional reforms in a March 2022 State of the Nation Address. These reforms would lessen his executive powers and allocate more authority to the parliament. To do so, he initiated a referendum that would allow for Kazakh citizens to directly vote for the proposed 56 amendments. In a
2022 constitutional referendum, an overwhelming majority of Kazakhs had officially voted in favour for changes to the
Constitution of Kazakhstan
The Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan ( kk, Қазақстан Республикасының Конституциясы, Qazaqstan Respublikasynyñ Konstitutsiasy, ) is the highest law of Kazakhstan, as stated in Article 4. The Constit ...
,
which changed nearly a total of one-third or 33 articles in the document.
The newly proposed amendments included changes within the structure of governance, electoral system, decentralisation of power between the levels of governments, and paved the way for complete stripping of Nazarbayev's remaining constitutional powers of being a Elbasy (leader of the nation).
2022 presidential election
Amid speculations of power consolidation,
President Tokayev announced
2022 snap presidential elections for November in his September 2022 State of the Nation Address,
citing his personal need for a "new
mandate of trust from the people" and said that the early election would "significantly lower the risks of power monopolisation". The move was described by ''
Reuters
Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world.
The agency was est ...
'' as an attempt by Tokayev to strengthen his "mandate as an independent leader" and potentially avoid economic deterioration and loss of public support if holding elections ahead of originally scheduled date for 2024.
Sceptics suggested the possibility of Tokayev using the 2022 presidential elections as a way to extend his rule similarly to his predecessor Nazarbayev, citing Tokayev's current control over all major branches of Kazakh government and his proposal for a new
constitutional amendment
A constitutional amendment is a modification of the constitution of a polity, organization or other type of entity. Amendments are often interwoven into the relevant sections of an existing constitution, directly altering the text. Conversely, t ...
that would change the presidential term of office to a nonrenewable seven-year term. In an effort to boost his support after the announcement of elections, Tokayev declared amnesty for the participants in the January 2022 unrest and supported reverting the controversial capital name of Nur-Sultan back to Astana.
Due to early timing of the 2022 presidential election, the political sphere was left without the organisation of the opposition, as no new political party had been registered due to the Kazakh legislation restricting citizens in contesting the race. With exception of Tokayev seeking reelection, other presidential contestants were described as "pocket candidates" due to their little public popularity who did not pose any significant electoral challenge to Tokayev. The results left Tokayev securing an 81.3% landslide victory in the election, with Tokayev in his inaugural speech promising to fulfill his election programme within the remaining seven years of his presidential term.
2023 Senate elections
After assuming office, Tokayev announced
January 2023 Senate elections, stressing the need in "continuation of the practical implementation of the constitutional reform", adding that the results will allow for Senate deputy corps to be renewed in "principles of competition and openness". This decision came after constitutional changes in the structure and powers of the
Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the e ...
and the coming term expiration for senators that were previously elected in
2017
File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...
, to which the senate election would be conducted as part of Tokayev's political reforms.
In total, 20 senators were elected by local assemblies (
mäslihat
A Maslikhat () is a local representative body (parliament) in Kazakhstan that is elected by a population of a region, district and city.
Functions
The maslikhats operate at the level of regional and municipality, as well as at the local level ...
s) with 130 people initially nominating their candidacies, including several barred activists who claimed of constitutional rights violations that prevented them from becoming candidates.
Snap election speculations
Speculations of
snap elections for parliament began during the January 2022 unrest, with unconfirmed media reports of Tokayev potentially discussing the issue of dissolving the
7th Parliament. A variety of predictions were made, many of which predicted snap legislative elections sometime in late 2022 or early 2023.
After Tokayev initially announced his package of political reforms in the upcoming September 2022 State of the Nation Address, several political commentators expressed support for holding snap legislative elections, with political analyst Zamir Qarajanov citing a need in change of laws regarding elections and deputies and that the if a snap election is called by Tokayev, then it would likely be held sometime around January and February 2023.
According to Gaziz Äbişev, the drafting of new political reforms would concern parties and elections and that it would lead to the issue of the early dissolution of the parliament being raised.
Proponents of an early vote for Mäjilis concluded that Tokayev must first present his package of political reforms that would allow for newer parties to form and conduct the legislative timeframe for their implementation before scheduling a snap election date. Political scientist Älibek Tajibaev argued against snap election, saying that the parliamentary formation is strongly tied with the general election style, noting that voting dates are "predetermined chronologically" and that non-parliamentary and newly formed parties should prepare for the regularly scheduled 2025 legislative election by instead focusing their campaigning first in municipal races.
Despite widescale discussions of a potential snap election, Mäjilis chairman
Erlan Qoşanov in April 2022 dismissed any rumours of an early dissolution of the 7th Parliament, claiming that issues of holding an early vote had not been discussed at all.
However, on 1 September 2022 at the State of the Nation Address, Tokayev officially announced snap legislative elections in the first half of 2023. He cited the need for the legislative bodies to be "naturally renewed" and said that a new parliamentary composition will represent the interests of "broad groups of citizens" to allow executive branch to enact more "balanced decisions", adding that the snap legislative election would conclude "a reset and renewal of all major political institutions". At the 23 November 2022 plenary session of the Mäjilis, chairman Qoşanov in regard to the timing for an upcoming snap election, stated that the announcement of it would be made by Tokayev and forecast the date to be held sometime in 2023. Shortly after Tokayev's reelection win in the
2022 presidential election, he signed a decree on 26 November in approving an action plan made under the basis of his electoral programme, which initially included a deadline in holding of a Mäjilis election no later than June 2023.
Dissolution of the 7th Parliament
In early January 2023, the insider source of ''KazTAG'' reported on the dissolution of Mäjilis taking place within a coming week, to which the possibility of it was confirmed on 11 January by the head of the Mäjilis Committee on Legislation and Judicial and Legal Reform Arman Qojahmetov, who suggested for the dissolution to be declared by Tokayev sometime in the month of January, though not ruling out the power of Mäjilis members to request the parliament to be dissolved themselves.
On 19 January 2023, Tokayev signed a presidential decree in officially abolishing the 7th convocation of Mäjilis and scheduling the snap legislative elections to take place on 19 March 2023, a date noted to specifically coincide with
Nowruz
Nowruz ( fa, نوروز, ; ), zh, 诺鲁孜节, ug, نەۋروز, ka, ნოვრუზ, ku, Newroz, he, נורוז, kk, Наурыз, ky, Нооруз, mn, Наурыз, ur, نوروز, tg, Наврӯз, tr, Nevruz, tk, Nowruz, ...
and former president
Nursultan Nazarbayev
Nursultan Abishuly Nazarbayev ( kk, Нұрсұлтан Әбішұлы Назарбаев, Nūrsūltan Äbişūlı Nazarbaev, ; born 6 July 1940) is a Kazakhs, Kazakh politician and military officer who served as the first President of Kazakhstan ...
's resignation four years earlier. Upon singing the decree, Tokayev praised the Mäjilis members for their legislative work, saying that they had set the example of "high professionalism, responsibility to citizens and sincere patriotism". In a following address to Kazakh citizens, Tokayev expressed hope for the "updated compositions of deputies" and that the
Central Election Commission
An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...
and the
Prosecutor General's Office along with poll observers will strictly monitor the "rule of law, transparency and fairness" of the election, whilst taking into account of campaign demonstrating "a high level of political culture" and contributing the "consolidation of our society".
He also added that the snap elections will be final stage of "rebooting state institutions" that would coincide with the formula of a "strong President – influential Parliament – accountable Government".
Electoral system
Under Article 85 of the Constitutional Law "On Elections", the legislative elections in Kazakhstan for the
Mäjilis
The Mäjilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan ( kk, Қазақстан Республикасы Парламенті Мәжілісі, Qazaqstan Respublikasy Parlamentî Mäjîlîsî, also transliterated as Mazhilis; "Assembly" in ...
members, who are known as
deputies, are held within five years after the expiration of a legal term length for Mäjilis deputies. In accordance with Article 51 of the
Constitution
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When these princip ...
, a person must be at least 25 years or older and had been a permanent resident for the last ten years in Kazakhstan to serve as a member of the Mäjilis.
2022 amendments
Following constitutional changes as a result of the
2022 referendum, the number of seats in the Mäjilis were reduced from 107 to 98 (due to the abolition of the previous nine-seat quota that was reserved to the
Assembly of People of Kazakhstan), leaving all the remaining seats to be elected through
mixed-member majoritarian representation for the first time since
2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...
.
Under the new electoral system, the Mäjilis (consisting of total 98 deputies) is divided into the following methods of election: 70% (69 deputies) from
closed list party-list proportional representation
Party-list proportional representation (list-PR) is a subset of proportional representation electoral systems in which multiple candidates are elected (e.g., elections to parliament) through their position on an electoral list. They can also be u ...
allocated using the
largest remainder method
The largest remainder method (also known as Hare–Niemeyer method, Hamilton method or as Vinton's method) is one way of allocating seats proportionally for representative assemblies with party list voting systems. It contrasts with various ...
and 30% (29 deputies) from
single-member district
A single-member district is an electoral district represented by a single officeholder. It contrasts with a multi-member district, which is represented by multiple officeholders. Single-member districts are also sometimes called single-winner v ...
s that use the
first-past-the-post voting
In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast their ...
(FPTP) method.
Electoral and party-list quota
Under the Kazakh law, a series of legal quotas are mandated regarding to the political party's overall performance in the election and its
electoral list
An electoral list is a grouping of candidates for election, usually found in proportional or mixed electoral systems, but also in some plurality electoral systems. An electoral list can be registered by a political party (a party list) or can ...
of candidates.
Article 97-1 of the Constitutional Law "On Elections" establishes a minimum of 5%
electoral threshold
The electoral threshold, or election threshold, is the minimum share of the primary vote that a candidate or political party requires to achieve before they become entitled to representation or additional seats in a legislature. This limit can ...
(previously reduced from 7% in 2021) for a party to earn
proportional representation
Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...
al seats in the Mäjilis.
If only one party obtains at least 5% of the proportional vote share, then the party that received the next largest number of votes and hadn't overcome the electoral barrier is allowed to receive at least two mandates.
Since the
2021 election, a mandatory fixed share of political representatives had been in place, which Article 89 of the Constitutional Law "On Elections" requires for parties to include at least 30% quota of women, young people (aged under 29), and disabled persons within their electoral lists.
Electoral districts
On 22 November 2022, the
Central Election Commission
An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...
(CEC) adopted a resolution in reestablishing
electoral districts in Kazakhstan, upon which were previously dissolved in
2007 amendment, beginning on 1 January 2023 that would guarantee each region including cities of republican significance (Almaty, Astana, and Shymkent) a one representative seat, with all constituencies including no more than the 20% difference between the number of registered voters residing in them.
The list of boundaries of the newly formed 29
single-member district
A single-member district is an electoral district represented by a single officeholder. It contrasts with a multi-member district, which is represented by multiple officeholders. Single-member districts are also sometimes called single-winner v ...
s were drawn up and published on 24 December 2022, with the city of Almaty and
Turkistan Region having the most elected representatives due to their population sizes.
Timetable
Article 85 of the Constitutional Law "On Elections" stipulates that the legislative elections must be scheduled by the
President five months in advance and conducted within two months before the termination of a current established term length for Mäjilis deputies (since 14 January 2021), in which the legislative elections should have been originally held no later than 14 November 2025.
In a
Central Election Commission
An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...
(CEC) meeting on 20 January 2023, deputy chairman Konstantin Petrov unveiled the calendar plan for the 2023 legislative election, upon which the total duration amounted to 59 days:
Parties
Prior to the
2021 legislative election, the mandatory threshold for party registration was initially reduced to 20,000 members in a way to allow for new parties to be formed. Despite the laxed rules, no new parties were registered during that time period as the
Ministry of Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry.
Lists of current ministries of justice
Named "Ministry"
* Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia)
* Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan)
* Ministry of Just ...
repeatedly rejected the wishing parties' application requests. Eventually, President Tokayev proposed a constitutional law in lowering the registration threshold even more to 5,000 and reiterated that new parties will appear in political sphere, though asserted that some parties could not be "artificially" registered due to their violations of the law.
He also later did not rule out the possibility of some newly upcoming Mäjilis deputies to hold opposition views.
Prior before the constitutional amendments regarding the eased party registration rules came to force, there were a total of 16 initiative groups formed in attempt to seek their legalised party status. Both the opposition parties of
Alga, Qazaqstan and
Namys failed to obtain their legal statuses. These instances were described due to inability of the Kazakh government registering independent parties that pose "real competition" and that only pro-government organisation would be registered.
Contesting
On 21 January 2023, the
Central Election Commission
An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...
(CEC) announced the admission of all seven registered political parties to participate in the 2023 legislative elections to field their candidates according to their party lists.
However, Vice Justice Minister Alma Mūqanova revealed that the ministry was considering two parties of
El tağdyry and
Ūrpaqtar jalğastyğy of their applicational documents and that if they succeed in passing state registration by 8 February 2023, then the additional parties would be permitted to also take part in the election. In spite of that, no further party registrations took place during that timeframe, thus leaving exactly seven previously registered parties to contest the race in the end.
The CEC on 18 February 2023 conducted a draw procedure which established the number listing that each contesting party appeared on the ballot by order:
Candidates by party affiliation
There were 283 candidates chosen from all seven participating parties within electoral lists, as well as 609 candidates nominated in all single-member districts in which overwhelmingly 525 were self-nominees (
independents) whilst 79 candidates from seven political parties and 5 candidates from four public associations. The average number of nominated contestants in each constituency was 21 with the most being in
Electoral district No. 1 and
No. 2 of Astana (63 candidates each) and the least in
No. 28 of Ulytau Region (6 candidates).
Following the registration period, 281 party list nominees officially became candidates (as two from
Respublica dropped out of the race), with a mandatory quota of women, youth and persons with disabilities in each party list averaging to 38.1% of candidates as well as 12 ethnical representatives. In single-member districts, a total of 435 candidates were registered with 359 (82.5%) independents and 76 (17.5%) from parties, leaving 125 people having their candidatures rejected by the CEC due to voluntarily withdraws, improper document submissions, and campaign law violations.
The average of constituent candidate was approximately 49–50 years old, with an overall gender composition making up of 350 (80.5%) male and 85 (20%) female including 10 ethnical representatives. There were an average of 15 registered candidates in Kazakhstan's constituencies as the greatest number of contestants being within the electoral districts No. 1 and No. 2 of Astana (41 and 42 candidates each), with the lowest in
No. 25 of Turkistan Region (5 candidates).
Campaign

According to Vice Minister of Information and Social Development
Qanat Ysqaqov, the ministry would monitor information field during the electoral campaign and report any violations to the
Prosecutor General's Office.
Jandos Ömiräliev, the Deputy Prosecutor General, cited that the unlawful acts in the election would be conducting election campaigning during the period of its prohibition, obstruction of candidates as well as their proxies or political parties during their canvassing.
People's Party of Kazakhstan
The
People's Party of Kazakhstan (QHP) in a political council meeting on 21 January 2023 announced that the party would actively participate in the elections and established the republican campaign headquarters.
On 30 January 2023, the 23rd QHP Extraordinary Congress was held. From there, party chairman
Ermūhamet Ertısbaev
Ermukhamet Qabidenuly Ertisbaev ( kk, Ермұхамет Қабиденұлы Ертісбаев, ; born 19 November 1956) is a Kazakh politician and diplomat who has served as the chairman of the People's Party of Kazakhstan since 27 March 2022. ...
called on Kazakh citizens to show up at polling stations rather than public squares to fulfill all demands "in a civilized and democratic way", embarking the effectiveness of changing the system via means of parliamentary resolutions. A number of issues were discussed at the congress, upon which were related to energy and industry, maternal support, as well as land transfer and migratory employment. Prior before the congress was held, the QHP experienced discontent within the party's membership as its three Mäjilis serving deputies most notably
Jambyl Ahmetbekov had left the QHP with Ahmetbekov citing the unfitting new leadership of the party. The QHP in its party list included a total 52 people as well as 12 candidates in majoritarian districts for the election,
to which Ertısbaev described the names as being the "best and most worthy members of the political organisation" and noted the multinational and social composition of the QHP candidates. According to Ertısbaev, the QHP had initially included more than 120 people in its party list, which was eventually narrowed down to in way to correlate with the actual distribution of seats in the Mäjilis, with Ertısbaev expressing confidence that the party would sweep around 40–45 seats.
Aq Jol Democratic Party
In a statement published by the
Aq Jol Democratic Party on 20 January 2023, the party expressed its interest in taking part for Mäjilis election to which it should serve as the beginning of a "profound and fundamental change" in the fate of Kazakhstan.
The Aq Jol in its 21st Ordinary Congress on 1 February 2023, upon which was attended by the party members, adopted a decision in participating in the legislative election along the party's election programme.
A total of 77 Aq Jol candidates were nominated with 54 of them being in the party list that included such people as chairman
Azat Peruashev,
Dania Espaeva
Dania Madiqyzy Espaeva ( kz, Дәния Мадиқызы Еспаева, ''Dänia Madiqyzy Espaeva'', ; born 5 March 1961) is a Kazakh politician and a member of the Mazhilis from 24 March 2016. She was the first ever Kazakh woman to be a preside ...
,
Qazybek Isa and
Älia Raqyşeva.
One of the names in the list was "Qairat Boranbaev", despite everyone suspecting that it may have been the controversial businessman
Qairat Boranbaev who faced criminal investigations for alleged money embezzlement, it turned out to be a different person with the same name While the rest of 23 candidates were nominated for single-member districts by the Aq Jol.
At the congress, Peruashev raised the issue regarding
corruption
Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...
and the "gap between rich and poor" due to a monopoly impact in economic and political spheres which brings the issues on the party's relevancy.
He also expressed his willingness for the Aq Jol in the election to "gain the trust of the people", noting that "any ruling party" will lose power "sooner or later".
Months prior to the election, Aq Jol deputy , was ousted from the party and removed from Mäjilis over his public support for
Russia's invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...
. Some speculated that this controversy was an act made to advertise the party in a good light. It is notable, however, that Äbıldaev later appeared as a guest in Russian propagandist
Vladimir Solovyov's controversial show ''Solovyov LIVE,'' where he expressed his negative opinion about the "rising nationalism in Kazakhstan".
Nationwide Social Democratic Party
After previously boycotting the
2021 legislative elections, the self-declared opposition
Nationwide Social Democratic Party (JSDP) expressed its willingness to take part in the snap election, citing the recent changes in "legislative conditions and the system of power itself".
The JSDP held its 20th Extraordinary Congress on 2 February 2023, to where it was attended by 46 party delegates and adopted a decision in developing the election programme. It also fielded its 25 Mäjilis candidates with 19 people being included in the JSDP party list whilst the rest of six candidates vying for seats in electoral districts, to which party chairman
Ashat Raqymjanov
Ashat Nurmagambetuly Raqymjanov (, ''Ashat Nūrmağambetūly Raqymjanov'', ; born 10 June 1983) is a Kazakh politician who's serving as the chairman of Nationwide Social Democratic Party (JSDP) since 6 September 2019. Prior to that, he was chairma ...
asserted their popularity within their constituents.
Baytaq
The newly registered
"Baytaq" Green Party of Kazakhstan on 20 January 2023 announced that it would participate for the first time in the election, citing an opportunity in changing the Kazakhstan's environmental responsibility policy. On 21 January, party chairman
Azamathan Ämirtai revealed that Baytaq would aim at raising environmental issues within the parliamentary hearings.
The pre-election congress of Baytaq was held on 3 February 2023, from which Ämirtai while criticising other parties, insisted that the Baytaq party was fighting for "people's lives" by stressing the need of environmental protection in Kazakhstan and its correlation with the health and quality of life for citizens, to which Ämirtai described it as an "urgent issue". He addressed the needs in paying special attention to ecologic problematic areas of the
Aral Sea
The Aral Sea ( ; kk, Арал теңізі, Aral teñızı; uz, Орол денгизи, Orol dengizi; kaa, Арал теңизи, Aral teńizi; russian: Аральское море, Aral'skoye more) was an endorheic lake lying between Kazakh ...
and
Semipalatinsk Test Site, as well as waste problems from subsoil users in western Kazakhstan. In a decision by the pre-election congress, 20 members were included in the party list of Baytaq, with an extra four candidates that included Ämirtai himself being nominated in territorial constituencies.
Auyl
Äli Bektaev, chairman of the
"Auyl" People's Democratic Patriotic Party, in his official statement supported the decision in holding snap elections and embarked that party is ready to fight "honestly and openly in the new election cycle".
On 4 February 2023, the 22nd Auyl Extraordinary Congress was held from where it approved a list of 25 party list candidates and nine candidates for majoritarian districts. Auyl chairman
Äli Bektaev speaking at the congress, voiced his high hopes for the party's performance in the election due its improved structural work and stressed the importance of the development of agriculture, agrarian sphere, and rural settlements to which Bektaev emphasised that enhancing the situation and citizens lives in villages would in turn lead to a subsequent improvement in urban cities. The published party list of Auyl received an unusual media attention after its names included both 2022 presidential candidates of the Auyl's first deputy chairman
Jiguli Dairabaev and former ruling Amanat party member
Qaraqat Äbden in the same listing, with Bektaev confirming Äbden's membership into the Auyl by stating that her social views on folk and rural traditions correlated with the party's ideology.
Respublica
On 21 January 2023,
Respublica chairman
Aidarbek Qojanazarov in the aftermath of the party's registration announced that Respublica would for the first time participate in the legislative elections, noting that the party would conduct the "most transparent and fair selection" of candidates. On 3 February 2023, it was announced that Respulica would hold its 1st Extraordinary Congress, where the party's updated charter would be presented and approved.
The congress held in an informal tie-less format took place on 6 February, where Qojanazarov stated that Respublica prioritises human capital as being "the greatest wealth" of Kazakhstan, specifically being in the fields of education and health.
The party nominated a total of 29 candidates for the election from its list that included business representatives, with four competing for mandates in single-member districts.
Amanat
Prior before announcement of legislative elections,
Amanat chairman
Erlan Qoşanov in April 2022 had voiced his anticipation on the party's preparedness in the upcoming vote. After the dissolution of the 7th Parliament, Qoşanov in a 20 January 2023 party meeting stated that the Amanat supported Tokayev's decision in calling snap elections and asserted that the party is the "main driving force of progressive transformations", citing the previous work in helping the affected residents of
Kostanay and
Ekibastuz, as well regions that faced storm floods to which Qoşanov reiterated the Amanat's position of taking part in the election. On 31 January, Qoşanov revealed the party would hold its upcoming extraordinary congress.
On 7 February 2023, the 25th Amanat Extraordinary Congress took place to which more than 2,000 people attended that included political council members, former 7th Mäjilis deputies, party delegates, members from the party's Jastar Ruhy youth wing, as well as experts, representatives from NGO and the media. The Amanat nominated a total of 119 candidates (90 from party list and 29 in single-member districts) that encompassed former MPs, government officials, as well as notable bloggers, sports and chess players to which party chairman Qoşanov described the candidates as being "authoritative, educated and qualified people" and assuring that the composition of Amanat had led for it to become a "party of leaders".
Independents
In December 2022, a group of opposition activists and journalists, namely
Arailym Nazarova,
Älnur Iliaşev,
Dinara Egeubaeva, and
Duman Muhammedkärim, announced their candidacy for the 2023 legislative elections in Kazakhstan. They formed an independent
electoral alliance
An electoral alliance (also known as a bipartisan electoral agreement, electoral pact, electoral agreement, electoral coalition or electoral bloc) is an association of political parties or individuals that exists solely to stand in elections.
E ...
called
Altynşy Qañtar (Sixth January, in relation to the
2022 unrest), which aimed to support various opposition candidates running in both national and local races. Iliaşev stated that the bloc's ultimate goal was to bring about significant democratic reforms by gaining representation in the parliament. Out of the four mentioned names, only Egeubaeva and Nazarova were able to be successfully register as candidates, as Iliaşev and Muhammedkärim were both initially barred from running in the election due to their criminal records and failures to reside as permanent resident, respectively. However, Muhammedkärim successfully appealed his rejected candidature in the
Electoral district No. 12 of
Almaty Region
Almaty Region ( kk, Алматы облысы, Almaty oblysy; russian: Алматинская область, Almatinskaya oblast) is a region in Kazakhstan, located in the southeastern part of the country. Its capital, from 1997 to 2022 was the ...
, resulting in his candidacy being registered in the constituency.
By early February 2023, several independent candidates had expressed interest in running for the constituent races for Mäjilis, which included businessman
Sanjar Boqaev, leader of the unregistered
Namys party; civil activist
Inga Imanbai, spouse of jailed unregistered
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
leader
Janbolat Mamai; civil activist
Maks Boqaev, participant in the
2016 anti-land reform protests; journalist
Äset Mataev, founder of ''KazTAG'' news agency; journalist
Ermurat Bapi
Ermurat Seitkazyuly Bapi (, , ''Ermūrat Seiıtqazyūly Bäpi''; born 7 March 1959) is a Kazakh politician and journalist who was the Chairman of Nationwide Social Democratic Party (JSDP) from 26 April to 6 September 2019. He is the editor of the ...
, former chairman of the opposition
Nationwide Social Democratic Party; and
aqyn Rinat Zaiytov, participant in the
2019 presidential election protests. All of these candidates were registered to run, leaving only Maks Boqaev in failing to undergo the candidate registration process due to his current criminal conviction over involvement in the 2016 protests. Zayitov, known to be an opposition critic of President Tokayev and the government, was suddenly included in the electoral list of the ruling Amanat party. This sparked a huge outrage amongst Zayitov's supporters to which in response, Zayitov dispelled the criticism by stressing his goal at the Amanat party was to "change it from the inside out" and in turn asked for his support in the election.
On 19 February 2023, civil activists Älnur Iliaşev and
Murat Turymbetov, along with opposition independent candidates held a sanctioned campaign rally in
Gandi Park,
Almaty
Almaty (; kk, Алматы; ), formerly known as Alma-Ata ( kk, Алма-Ата), is the largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population of about 2 million. It was the capital of Kazakhstan from 1929 to 1936 as an autonomous republic as part of ...
, to which 100 people attended. From there, Arailym Nazarova, head of NGO Independent Observers, criticised the percentage of majoritarian representation in the parliament and called for independent observation in the election as way to ensure the transparency of the vote.
Äset Mataev in the rally supported an "independent parliament" composed of "free people" rather than "push-button deputies" that would make Kazakhstan "rich and happy", noting that the last "free elections" were held in
2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...
by using
Serikbolsyn Abdildin
Serikbolsyn Abdildauly Abdildin ( kk, Серікболсын Әбділдаұлы Әбділдин, ''Serikbolsyn Ábdildauly Ábdildın''; 25 November 1937 – 31 December 2019) was a Kazakh economist, politician, First Secretary of the Communi ...
as an example of a candidate that managed to be elected through such system. Sociologist Janar Jandosova in participation of the rally, drew attention to a low voter turnout rate in Almaty and thus urged people to show up at the polls. Politician
Muhtar Taijan, speaking at the event, asserted that if at least 10 opposition candidates manage to be elected in the parliament, then they would be able "to achieve reforms that the people need". While criticising President Tokayev's administration, Taijan also called on fair elections and stressed the need in "real and popular candidates" to come into power, in which he announced the formation of an electoral alliance in a following day that would be composed of independent candidates.
A press conference took place in Almaty on 20 February by independent opposition candidates on the official announcement of the creation of an electoral alliance, which included
Aiman Tursunhan, Ermurat Bapi, Muhtar Taijan, Sanjar Boqaev, Erlan Qaliev as well as Altynşy Qañtar bloc founder Arailym Nazarova, to which she stated that her work was carried out autonomously and that she was not involved in the bloc's activities.
The candidates stressed the need for unification of independent candidates in order to "increase the competence of parliament as a common goal", not ruling out the demands in returning a
parliamentary system
A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance
Governance is the process of interactions through the laws, norms, power or language of an organized society over a social system ( family, t ...
in Kazakhstan and poised themselves as supporters of
majoritarian representation
A majoritarian electoral system is an electoral system where the candidate with the most votes takes the seat using the winner-takes-all principle and in this way provides majoritarian representation. However, there are many electoral systems c ...
.
At the conference, an election manifesto was adopted by the founding bloc, which pledged to maintain the balance of three branches of government, ensuring greater local government, freedom of press, and the nation's wealth belonging to the people while under pretext of a "strong parliament, accountable government" (a somewhat resemblance of President Tokayev's ideological view).
Controversies
Campaign law violations
Prior to the campaigning period, the ruling
Amanat party received widespread attention from social media after the party's election advertisement was spotted being illegally installed on several public billboard displays in
Karaganda, a day in advance by the required law. In response to the backlash, the Amanat party's regional branch acknowledging the violation of the election law in an official statement, revealed that its campaign banner was hung by its advertising contractors and that the banner was subsequently removed within 30 minutes after the party's regional branch responded to the complaints. The party also announced that it would it take legal action and unilaterally terminate its contract with the service providers behind the incident. Opposition activist and independent deputy candidate,
Sanjar Boqaev, criticised the ruling Amanat party following the incident, in which he called for the party to be barred from participating in the elections, citing the legal provision within the election law in regard to its violation.
Several opposition candidates also had come under scrutiny by the Kazakh prosecutors, due to allegedly violating election laws as well such as independents
Marat Jylanbaev,
Amangeldi Jahin,
and
Jasulan Aitmağanbetov, by which they were accused of illegally conducting their agitation on social media during the pre-campaign timeframe of the election and in result, faced fines and revoking of their candidacy registration.
Despite the punishments, the independent candidates dismissed the court's rulings, insisted that communication on social media was not legally defined as an "agitation".
Temirtas Synmetullaev, deputy candidate from Karaganda, received a fine on 2 March 2023 due to his pre-campaign Facebook posts in which he denied accusations, claiming the use of alleged photoshopping over his posted words.
The Prosecutor General's Office of Kazakhstan issued a conclusive report on 17 March, stating 23 election law violations, mainly related to prohibited campaigning (such as unnamed candidates providing free taxi rides or sand-gravel mixture services), unauthorized independent polling, and distribution of anonymous or vandalizing campaign materials.
Exclusion of independent candidates
A number of candidates who were mostly independents were barred and even excluded from the national and local elections despite previously overgoing the registration requirements, mainly due to their tax noncompliances to even allegations of
copyright infringement
Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the copyright holder, ...
s as well by the courts. Deputy PM and Finance Minister
Erulan Jamaubaev
Erulan Kenjebekuly Jamaubaev (, ''Erūlan Kenjebekūly Jamaubaev''; born 25 March 1974) is a Kazakh politician who's serving as Minister of Finance since 2020.
Biography
Early life and education
Jamaubaev was born in the Almaty Region
Al ...
denied any political motivations for the refusals in registration of independent candidates for the election, adding that the State Revenue Committee would verify mistakes in the candidates' financial declarations.
Civil activist
Äigerım Tıleujan originally had her candidacy rejected by the Almaty's District Election Commission No. 3 on 17 February 2023, due to her electoral registration fee being deemed not authentic as Tıleujan was under investigation by the Kazakh authorities for allegedly inciting an attack on the
Almaty International Airport during the January 2022 unrest. In an appeal effort, Tıleujan successfully won a lawsuit against the district election commission's decision in a ruling made by the
Supreme Court of Kazakhstan
The Supreme Court of the Republic of Kazakhstan is the highest of three levels of courts of Kazakhstan, sitting above regional appeals courts, and city or district courts (courts of first instance). The Supreme Judicial Council recommends nominee ...
on 27 February, thus essentially becoming a registered candidate in the election. However on 11 March 2023, Tıleujan was once again removed from the race by the district election commission, due to "discrepancies" in her tax returns. Qaiyrğali Köneev, a physician and public figure, was denied registration as an independent deputy candidate on the absurd basis of leaving Kazakhstan and never returning despite having to physically lived and worked in Almaty the whole time, in which Köneev ironically demanded to be awarded and nominated for the
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfre ...
as being the world's first teleported person.
In response to increasing pressure by the Kazakh government over its removal of independent candidates, opposition activists in a press conference on 9 March 2023 voiced their concerns over the issue, complaining about being "illegally alienated" from the elections and that the decision was unfounded, an allegation that was dismissed by the CEC member Şavkat Ötemisov as he suggested for candidates to instead "appeal to the court and try again to participate in the elections." On 17 March, the CEC reported that a total of 166 complaints were filed to the courts by the removed candidates and that only six of the candidates had their registration successfully reinstated. According to Asylbek Aijaryquly, member of the CEC, an "objective decision" regarding the removal of independent candidates will be determined by a court case.
The frequent changes to the list of candidates posed challenges in preparing the voting ballots, as some candidates who had withdrawn from their constituent races were mistakenly included in the thousands of already printed ballots near election day. In Almaty, the chairwoman of the territorial election commission, Aigül Qalyqova, explained that election commission members were required by law to manually cross out the names of withdrawn candidates with a blue pen and leave their personal signatures next to the crossed-out columns.
Political pressure towards candidates
Journalist and independent candidate
Inga Imanbai for
Electoral district No. 3 (
Almaty
Almaty (; kk, Алматы; ), formerly known as Alma-Ata ( kk, Алма-Ата), is the largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population of about 2 million. It was the capital of Kazakhstan from 1929 to 1936 as an autonomous republic as part of ...
) during her campaign announced in holding of a solitary picket in support of
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian invas ...
for the first anniversary of
Russian's invasion on 24 February 2023, in which her request was rejected by the Almaty äkim
Erbolat Dosaev for allegedly submitting her permission a day late. Imanbai dismissed the moves by the akimat as "bureaucratic delays" being "used as excuses" and accused the Kazakh government of refusing its citizens in showing support for the Ukrainian people. Nevertheless, Imanbai initially pledged to hold an anti-war speech instead in her election headquarters office. On 27 February, Imanbai reported that she was summoned by the police due to inciting a "national animus" after holding a single picket protest in the office of Human Rights Bureau in Kazakhstan. After her release from the police station, Imanbai accused the Kazakh authorities of attempting to remove her candidacy from the race due for holding pro-Ukraine views.
On 14 March 2023, a car parade in support of Mäjilis candidate
Sabyrjan Qalmuhambetov for
Electoral district No. 10 was held in
Aktobe
Aktobe ( kz, Ақтөбе, Aqtöbe; russian: Актобе, Aktobe) is a city on the Ilek River in Kazakhstan. It is the administrative center of Aktobe Region. In 2020, it had a population of 500,757 people.
Aktobe is located in the west of ...
, in which the car drivers were forced to stop the campaign rally by the law enforcement due to Qalmuhambetov not obtaining an event permission from the city authorities. As a result, Qalmuhambetov's campaign faced investigation by the prosecutor's office due to his holding of an unsanctioned campaign rally.
Attacks against journalists
With the announcement of the 2023 elections, growing attacks on journalists across Kazakhstan had occurred beginning with journalist
Dinara Egeubaeva, a Mäjilis candidate and one of founders of the
Altynşy Qañtar electoral alliance, faced an immediate intimidation shortly after announcing her interest in participating in the election in which a brick was thrown to her vehicle and then set on fire in the night of 14 January 2023 near her Almaty apartment. The following day on 15 January, the Kazakh law enforcement detained five underaged suspects who were 15, 16, and 17 years of age in which they allegedly received orders from an unknown individual in exchange for bribes according to their own testimonies and were also accused of breaking glass door entrance at the El Media office. Samal Ibraeva, chief editor of the Ulysmedia.kz, announced on 18 January 2023 that a cyberattack occurred on the site which leaked personal information of herself and family members, accusing the
National Security Committee
A national security council (NSC) is usually an executive branch governmental body responsible for coordinating policy on national security issues and advising chief executives on matters related to national security. An NSC is often headed by a n ...
(ŪQK) of being behind the cyberattack. On 8 February 2023, the Ulysmedia.kz editorial office in Astana having received a box of "raw meat and pictures of children", to which she described the incident as "intimidation". Journalist Vadim Boreiko of the "Гиперборей" YouTube channel, reported of a burned construction foam outside his apartment door in Almaty, as well as two cars belonging to him and videographer Roman Yegorov being burned down on 20 February. The incident led to a swift response by the Almaty Department of Internal Affairs by launching investigation in which the unnamed suspect behind the arson was subsequently arrested. Daniar Moldabekov, a Kazakh journalist and author of the "5 Қаңтар" ("5 January")
Telegram
Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas ...
channel, revealed on 22 February that a man with a medical mask was shot in the entrance of his Almaty residence. Gulnoza Said, coordinator at the
Committee to Protect Journalists
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is an American independent non-profit, non-governmental organization, based in New York City, New York, with correspondents around the world. CPJ promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journ ...
, urged the Kazakh government to ensure that the journalists' safety and for the criminals to be held accountable.
The increasing threats on journalists essentially prompted for President Tokayev to intervene by instructing law enforcement agencies to conduct thorough investigation of criminal acts towards journalists, in which Aqorda press secretary
Ruslan Jeldibai accused the criminal instigators of damaging "public security and the reputation of the state". By 21 February 2023, the
Ministry of Internal Affairs reported that 18 people had been arrested in relation to the attacks on journalists. Though, Deputy Internal Affairs Minister Marat Qojaev assessed that it was it was "too early to say that the attacks were carried out on the orders of someone." On 28 February, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and ŪQK announced the arrest of a suspect identified as "O. Tokarev", allegedly responsible for organised attacks against journalists and independent media, revealing that Tokarev was a foreign citizen and a skilled hacker, and he was accompanied by four other foreign nationals named "K. Litvinov," "S. Shapovalov," "B. Demchenko," and "Y. Malyshok." In an official report from 2 March 2023, it stated that Tokarev had pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with the Kazakh authorities in the criminal probe.
Arman Şoraev lawsuit
On 24 February 2023,
Arman Şoraev, an independent candidate for Mäjilis in the
Electoral district No. 2 (
Astana
Astana, previously known as Akmolinsk, Tselinograd, Akmola, and most recently Nur-Sultan, is the capital city of Kazakhstan.
The city lies on the banks of the Ishim River in the north-central part of Kazakhstan, within the Akmola Region, tho ...
), sparked a scandal on social media by publishing a Facebook photo of members from the
People's Party of Kazakhstan (QHP) and writing "Do not vote for these traitors" underneath the caption, to which the post was criticised for its divisive language and perceived discreditation on the party by the QHP chairman
Ermukhamet Ertisbaev, who threatened to file lawsuit to the
Prosecutor General's Office against Şoraev for slander unless he deletes the post and offers a public apology. Şoraev in response deleted the post but subsequently made a new one taking aim directly at Ertisbaev, where he noted that Ertisbaev had long served as an advisor to former president
Nursultan Nazarbayev
Nursultan Abishuly Nazarbayev ( kk, Нұрсұлтан Әбішұлы Назарбаев, Nūrsūltan Äbişūlı Nazarbaev, ; born 6 July 1940) is a Kazakhs, Kazakh politician and military officer who served as the first President of Kazakhstan ...
and called on him instead to publicly apologise for his previous YouTube interview with Russian propagandist
Vladimir Solovyov where he expressed controversial remarks towards Russian President
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime m ...
for saving Kazakhs "from the Nazis during the
January Events", reiterating once again for Ertisbaev being a "traitor", as well as suggesting to hold a live debate with him.
On 5 March 2023, the QHP under the behalf of its plaintiff Nuria Baltabaiqyzy, filed a class action lawsuit against Şoraev for spreading the "false information" about the party, which if proven in court, would lead for Şoraev having his Mäjilis candidacy be deregistered from the election. The hearings initially set to be held from 6 March, were postponed that same day for 10 March after plaintiff Baltabaiqyzy failed to show up. On 14 March, the Interdistrict Court of Astana found Şoraev guilty of disseminating the QHP, though the judicial act decision by the court would come into force until election day on 19 March, which nevertheless allowed for Şoraev to remain on the ballot in the race and insisting as the incident being a provocation by the Kazakh government to delegitimise his campaign.
Anti-riot bill
The
Senate of Kazakhstan approved a draft law "On introduction of amendments and additions to some legislative acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan on the prevention of human rights in the field of criminal proceedings, execution, as well as other cruel, inhuman or defamatory acts of torture". The law proposes stricter penalties under Article 272 of the Penal Code for individuals who call for the incitement of mass riots by increasing the maximum prison sentence from 3 to 5 years and from 3 to 7 years on social media, as well as increasing the maximum sentence for hooliganism committed as part of a criminal group from 5 to 7 years in prison without parole. The vote took place during a plenary session ahead of the election on 9 March 2023, with Interior Minister
Marat Ahmetjanov expressing support for the legislation. The bill was subsequently signed into law by President Tokayev on 17 March.
Electoral fraud allegations
Concerns about
electoral fraud arose ahead of the election, after photos circulating on social media from several polling stations in
Shymkent had allegedly shown the existence of voting results protocols completed with numbers indicating the votes cast for each candidate shortly before polls were opened to the public. Ömir Şynybekuly, an independent candidate running in
Shymkent II, called on the Prosecutor General's Office to intervene and urged President Tokayev to temporarily suspend the powers of the Shymkent City Akimat. In response, the Shymkent Territorial Election Commission chairman Qaiybek Qunanbaev dismissed the claims of prepared voting protocol results as being "fake stuffing and provocation", insisting that election protocols are filled after voting takes place and noted the absence of a seal in the alleged precinct result tallies.
After polls opened on election day, independent monitoring NGO Erkindik Qanaty claimed election violations, which included restrictions on observer movements, limited visibility of the voter registration process, bans on photo and video recording, campaign activities by the precinct election commission chairman, and failure to provide an observer's chair which served as a violation of instructions for equipping the polling station. Voting irregularities emerged across Kazakhstan, with numerous videos captured by independent observers showing instances of
ballot box stuffing and
carousel voting taking place in polling stations. Others at several polling sites witnessed surveillance cameras being covered with tape. Azamat Sarğazin, head of the Public Interest Protection Service of the Prosecutor General's Office, reported that 18 members of the election commission were fined and suspended due to election violations involving in issuing voting ballots to people for relatives. CEC chairman
Nurlan Äbdirov
Nūrlan Mäjitūly Äbdırov (; born 12 January 1961) is a Kazakh politician who's serving as Deputy Chair of the Senate of Kazakhstan since 1 September 2020. He served as a member of the Mazhilis from 2009 to 2020. Since January 2022, Chairman o ...
, acknowledging the possible vote tampering, requested the Prosecutor General's Office for "an inspection and legal assessment" of widespread irregularities. The Prosecutor General's Office in the aftermath of the vote, registered a total of 40 violations during election day, upon which included election campaigning after its prohibition period.
Conduct
Elections in Kazakhstan are prepared and conducted and by various bodies of election commissions.
[ ]
In a meeting held on 20 January 2023, the
Central Election Commission
An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...
(CEC) discussed a series of issues in relation to the appointment of elections, approval of a timetable, establishment of election document forms, and the activities of election observers from foreign states and international organisations, as well foreign media representatives.
Public funding
The
Ministry of Finance on 19 January 2023 announced that a total amount of 33.4 billion tenge originally would be spent for the 2023 election, a higher number than the
2022 presidential election funding, to which the Finance Ministry assessed that the costs for the snap election are included as part of the draft 2023–2025 budget and that the spending amount was initially reserved for 2025 fiscal year. According to the Ministry, the increased public expenses are taken into account for the introduction of a
mixed electoral system.
On 8 February 2023, the CEC confirmed that 33.4 billion tenge were officially allocated for the election.
Voter registration
By 1 July and 1 January every year, information on voters and the boundaries of polling stations are submitted by the local executive bodies (akimats) in electronic form to their territorial election commissions, which ensure the verification and submission of information to the higher election commissions.
There were approximately 11,976,406 registered voters in Kazakhstan as of 1 January 2023.
Voter registration in Kazakhstan is conducted by a local executive body from the moment of announcement or appointment of elections and are compiled within the
voter list, which are based on place of residence in the territory of the given
electoral precinct
A precinct, voting district, polling division, or polling district, is a subdivision of an electoral district, typically a contiguous area within which all electors go to a single polling place to cast their ballots.
Canada
In elections in ...
.
The voter list for each polling station is approved by the
akim (local head), who issues an ordinance twenty days (27 February 2023) before the election.
To vote absentee, a voter must notify the äkimat no later than thirty days (17 February 2023) before the election by applying their current place of residence for inclusion in a voter list at a different polling station.
From 4 March 2023,
absentee ballot
An absentee ballot is a vote cast by someone who is unable or unwilling to attend the official polling station to which the voter is normally allocated. Methods include voting at a different location, postal voting, proxy voting and online vot ...
s began to be issued out to voters, which would take place until 18:00 local time on 18 March. In total, 22,578 absentee ballots were issued by the precinct election commissions based on voters' written applications.
As of 26 February 2023, the number of registered voters reached 12,032,550 people, upon which were all subsequently included in electoral rolls according to the data transferred by the akimats. Fifteen days before election day (from 4 March 2023), Kazakh citizens were given an opportunity to verify themselves in voter listing for their respective polling stations. According to deputy chairman of the CEC, Konstantin Petrov, the informational data on registered voters will be transferred and protected by the
Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry, which would inform Kazakh citizens about their voter listing inclusion via
SMS
Short Message/Messaging Service, commonly abbreviated as SMS, is a text messaging service component of most telephone, Internet and mobile device systems. It uses standardized communication protocols that let mobile devices exchange short text ...
messaging.
On 17 March 2023, it was announced that Kazakh citizens without a
residence permit would be allowed in registering to vote at 118 polling stations across the country on election day from 7:00 to 20:00 local time. The JSC Government for Citizens employees provided this service to allow citizens to exercise their voting and constitutional rights to which the polling stations included educational facilities, though voters who registered there were subsequently automatically deregistered after the election on 20 March.
COVID-19 guidelines
During the CEC briefing on 23 January 2023, Chief Sanitary Doctor of Kazakhstan
Aijan Esmağambetova addressed the epidemiological situation regarding the ongoing
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...
, in which she noted a decrease in COVID-19 cases within the last two weeks though did not rule out the seasonal rise of the virus along with
influenza
Influenza, commonly known as "the flu", is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These symptom ...
infections. While Kazakhstan was classified under low-risk "green zone" nationwide in relation to the level of COVID-19's transmission, seven regions (cities of Shymkent, Almaty, and Atyrau; East Kazakhstan Region, Karaganda Region, Kostanay Region, and Mangystau Region) had the reproductive rate of the virus (R indicator) above one, which recommended face coverings in crowded settings. When taking into account of these indications, Esmağambetova recommended for political organisations to hold events within spacious premises, upon which should be provided uninterrupted functioning of the ventilation system as well as urging residents living in the regions under the R-indicator above one to mask up in crowded areas.
Prior to the vote, Esmağambetova warned that a new mixed electoral system would lead to an increased voter turnout and in response, she called to regulate the flow of people in polling stations, as well as continuous function of ventilation/AC at the rate of 4 sq/m, and regulatory sanitation of election premises during voting day.
Disabled voters
In an effort to ensure the rights of
disabled persons, the CEC on 27 January 2023 adopted a resolution which recommended for local executive bodies (akimats) to ensure and assist election commissions in providing voting conditions for people with disabilities at polling stations, checking the accessibility of polling stations with the participation of representatives from public associations of persons with disabilities, as well as provide additional measures to ensure special conditions.
The CEC had also recommended for Kazakh citizens, the
Ministry of Labour and Social Protection and akimats to update disabled voters' information, as well as locations of polling stations in the Interactive Accessibility Map.
On 27 February 2023, CEC chairman
Nurlan Äbdirov
Nūrlan Mäjitūly Äbdırov (; born 12 January 1961) is a Kazakh politician who's serving as Deputy Chair of the Senate of Kazakhstan since 1 September 2020. He served as a member of the Mazhilis from 2009 to 2020. Since January 2022, Chairman o ...
revealed that polling stations would be equipped with all necessary conditions for persons with visual impairments, which would additional lighting and magnifiers.
Preparations
On 23 January 2023, the CEC unveiled its main direction by prioritising the improvement of the "legal literacy and electoral culture" for all participants in the election process which included in conducting training and education for all nationwide election commission members in under following areas:
* Online workshop meetings;
* Field training and inspection workshop meetings in the regions;
* Distance learning and testing;
* Workshops for members of election commissions based on regional branches of the Academy of Public Administration under the President;
* Field training workshop meetings and trainings by territorial election commission (TEC) members;
* Workshops for members of 69 precinct election commissions formed at Kazakhstan's overseas representative offices.
Since the beginning of the election campaign, 230 call centers aimed at informing Kazakh citizens regarding their inclusion into electoral rolls were established in all regions of Kazakhstan, to which it received more than 17,000 requests by late February 2023.
The CEC approved five voting ballot designs for the 2023 election on 27 February, including blue-coloured ballots (party voting) and green-coloured ballots (constituency vote). For the first time, an
ISO 216
ISO 216 is an international standard for paper sizes, used around the world except in North America and parts of Latin America. The standard defines the "A", "B" and "C" series of paper sizes, including A4, the most commonly available paper si ...
paper format would be used as voting ballots for a better visual readability, in which party list vote ballots would contain eight columns and the constituency vote ballots include up to 16 candidate names. The CEC also established that the total number of printed paper ballots for the legislative elections would be based on the total number of registered voters (12,032,550 people), including an excess of 1% of the registered voting population, which would amount to 12,152,876 pieces for each party and constituency voting ballots.
On 27 February 2023, Vice Minister of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry Äset Turysov announced that starting 6 March 2023, the Unified Platform of Internet Resources of State Bodies along with eGov.kz will launch the "Search for a polling station through Individual Identification Number (IIN)" system, as well as SMS notifications to mobile users.
That same day, the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The enti ...
announced the formation of 77 polling stations in 62 countries for overseas voting, in which the ministerial representative Aibek Smadiarov urged Kazakh citizens wishing to take part in the election to contact and provide information to the foreign consular representation or institution of Kazakhstan to be included in their voter listing.
In total, 10,223 polling stations were formed for the election as summed up both domestically and aboard.
Election day
In the early dawn of 19 March 2023, polling stations began operating in Kazakhstan starting at 7:00 local time (with exception of 92 precincts being opened an hour earlier on 6:00 under the decision of territorial election commissions). As of 7:15
UTC+6, there were 8,272 polling stations functioning mostly in the eastern portion of Kazakhstan due to time differences as the regions of Aqtobe, Atyrau, West Kazakhstan, Qyzylorda and Mangystau would start voting an hour later according to the Astana time zone. During that period, President Tokayev himself had voted hours earlier in the Palace of Schoolchildren than previously anticipated, upon which the news of his vote was revealed later. According to the
Ministry of Information and Social Development, the reasoning of Tokayev voting earlier was due to changes in his "work schedule" and that information was intentionally left unreported to the public. By 8:15 UTC+6, all of 10,146 polling stations were operating domestically. Former president
Nursultan Nazarbayev
Nursultan Abishuly Nazarbayev ( kk, Нұрсұлтан Әбішұлы Назарбаев, Nūrsūltan Äbişūlı Nazarbaev, ; born 6 July 1940) is a Kazakhs, Kazakh politician and military officer who served as the first President of Kazakhstan ...
had also made his public appearance after showing up to vote, to which he congratulated everyone for upcoming
Nowruz
Nowruz ( fa, نوروز, ; ), zh, 诺鲁孜节, ug, نەۋروز, ka, ნოვრუზ, ku, Newroz, he, נורוז, kk, Наурыз, ky, Нооруз, mn, Наурыз, ur, نوروز, tg, Наврӯз, tr, Nevruz, tk, Nowruz, ...
holiday. As of 19:00 UTC+6, all 10,223 election precincts were in service as every overseas voting site had been opened in accordance with their respective time zones. The duration of the voting period lasted 13 hours, with polling stations being closed on 20:00 local time.
The CEC began reporting its first
voter turnout
In political science, voter turnout is the participation rate (often defined as those who cast a ballot) of a given election. This can be the percentage of registered voters, eligible voters, or all voting-age people. According to Stanford Univ ...
numbers for 10:00 UTC+6 and continued so every two hours until 22:00 evening time, when it presented the conclusive preliminary data of the national election turnout number of 54.2% (6,521,860 voters). Vote counting took place in every precinct starting 24:00 UTC+6 and was set to last until 08:00 UTC+6, 20 March 2023. From there, the CEC had also announced that it would address the preliminary results of the legislative election in the same following day.
Observation
Prior to the
2022 presidential election, the
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. ...
adopted new amendments to the election law, which tightened requirements of the accreditation process of public associations and NGOs to observe elections. According to Roman Reimer, co-founder of the NGO Erkindik Qanaty, the newly imposed laws would lead to a more difficult process of election accreditation and likely lead to a "destruction of independent observation", as well as severely restrict the election monitoring job at the polling stations.
On 20 January 2023, the
Central Election Commission
An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...
(CEC) Secretary Muqtar Erman announced in the opening of the Institution for International Election Observation, to which the CEC sent invitations to international, interparliamentary organisations, as well as the diplomatic corps in Kazakhstan to participate in monitoring for the 2023 election in order to meet international obligations in ensuring "openness and transparency during the electoral campaign". By 2 February 2023, the CEC accredited first 25 observers from
Palestine and two international organisations of
CIS Interparliamentary Assembly and
Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) under the
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, prom ...
(OSCE).
By 13 March 2023, the CEC accredited a total of 793 election observers from 41 foreign countries and 12 international organisations.
OSCE
By invitation by the CEC, the
OSCE
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, prom ...
Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on 8 February 2023 opened its election observation mission in Kazakhstan, headed by
Eoghan Murphy, which consisted of its core team of 11 international experts based in Astana, as well as 32 long-term observers that would be deployed throughout the country from 17 February. The ODIHR also announced in plans to deploy 300 short-term observers several days before election day.
In an interim report published on 3 March 2023, the OSCE described the election campaigning in Kazakhstan as being "lively", specifically on social media and in single-member electoral districts where large number of candidates took part in the race, while raising concerns on numerous cases of "intimidation and harassment of critical online journalists and bloggers" which had formed a "perception of impunity and contribute to widespread self-censorship."
The OSCE in its preliminary finding praised the electoral preparations as being "administered efficiently and within the established deadlines", though noted lack of consistency and timely addressment of vote counting and tabulation as International Election Observation Mission (IEOM) observers consistently noted "discrepancies between the number of voters casting their ballots and the officially reported preliminary turnout figures", as observers reported in either facing restrictions or having an unclear view of the counting procedures and ballot column marks, thus raising serious concerns regarding the integrity of the election counting process.
Debates
On 27 February 2023, the first televised debates between political parties were announced to be broadcast by the
Qazaqstan channel, to which it was scheduled to be held for 1 March 2023 with the debates also being livestreamed on YouTube, Facebook, and Telegram channels of Qazaqstan. Representatives of all seven contesting parties took part in 1 March election debate. The debate consisted of four stages where party representatives answered a common political question briefly twice, asked and responded to each other's questions, and lastly with the representatives personally addressing voters. At the debate stage, a variety of issues were raised by the speakers in relation to societal injustice, improvement of working conditions, educational gap between urban and rural areas, raising of minimum wage, environmental protection, entrepreneurship development, and combatting corruption. The first televised debate discussion was noted to have completely neglected sensitive topics such as 2022 unrest and its aftermath investigation of victims' death, as well as issues of ongoing human rights violations in Kazakhstan, with the podium speakers unusually interrupting each other and violating the debate rules.
A second debate was announced on 6 March 2023 by the KTK channel to be held on 10 March in all its livestream platforms, to which the televised debate consisted of three stages starting with the party participants presenting their theses of the election programs, asking each other questions, and in the final stage making appeal to the voters. During the debate,
People's Party of Kazakhstan (QHP) chairman
Ermukhamet Ertisbaev made a notable proposal in forming a
coalition government alongside the parties of
Auyl and
Baytaq.
The
Central Election Commission
An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...
(CEC) on 27 February 2023 had scheduled its third pre-election debate to take place on 16 March 2023, to which approximately 63 million tenge was allocated towards the hosting
Khabar Agency
The Khabar Agency (KA) ( kk, "Хабар" Агенттігі, translit="Xabar" Agenttıgı; russian: Агентство «Хабар») is a major media outlet in Kazakhstan. It was established in 1995, known originally as the National Television ...
for its televised debates between party representatives. On 7 March, the CEC approved a list of participants representing the parties at the podium, which initially included QHP chairman Ertisbaev as an invitee, but instead later having QHP member Oksana Äubäkirova representing the party. During the debate, consisting of three rounds, the speakers introduced their party ideologies, asked questions to their opponents, discussed party policies for developing Kazakhstan's socioeconomic status, and answered questions from the Khabar Agency's cell center, with the third and final round concluding with addresses from each party representative.
A debate consisting of independent candidates in a YouTube livestream were also hosted by the ''Orda.kz'' on 3 March 2023.
Opinion polls
During an online survey conducted in the 10 March 2023 debate, a majority of KTK channel respondents viewed Amanat to be the general winner of all the participating parties.
Opinion polls
Opinion polling in Kazakhstan may only be conducted by legal firms that are registered in accordance with the law of having at least five years of experience in conducting public surveys and had notified the
Central Election Commission
An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...
(CEC) of the polling firm's specialists and their experience along with the locations where they are conducted, and the analysis methods used.
It is prohibited for pollsters to publish opinion survey results on the internet regarding the election of candidates and political parties five days before voting begins (from 14 March 2023) as well as on election day at premises or in polling stations.
In addition, independent polling is severely restricted in Kazakhstan, as Deputy Prosecutor General
Jandos Ömiräliev on 18 February 2023 reported a number of unauthorised conducts of opinion polls, including one individual being fined under the decision by the prosecutor of
Saryarqa District in Astana. Änuarbek Sqaqov, member of the Kazakhstan Union of Lawyers central council, argued that public opinion should be done so without conducting online polls on social media and instead be carried out only by certain organisations accredited with the CEC, to which he insisted that it would supposedly prevent the "abuse or manipulation of public opinion".
Political scientist Talğat Qaliev forecast that the ruling Amanat party would retain its
party of power status in the 2023 election due to its "extensive network of branches" and prominent political figures in the party, followed by the
Auyl party within the second place of the vote in which he cited the party's electorate support from a large-sized rural base.
Exit polls
During election day,
exit poll
An election exit poll is a poll of voters taken immediately after they have exited the polling stations. A similar poll conducted before actual voters have voted is called an entrance poll. Pollsters – usually private companies working for n ...
s are conducted by members from legal organisations within and outside the premises of polling stations, to which Janar Muqanova, head of the Centre for Electoral Training of the Academy of Public Administration under the President, argued that a registration barrier provides a "good management" in professionally conducting sociological surveys. Organisations conducting exit polls publish their results after election day and within 12 hours after the announcements of preliminary results by the CEC.
After midnight on 20 March 2023, exit polls reported by Kazakh media indicated that the ruling
Amanat party had won the majority of the vote share. Analysts forecasted that around five or six other parties would earn representation after surpassing the
electoral threshold
The electoral threshold, or election threshold, is the minimum share of the primary vote that a candidate or political party requires to achieve before they become entitled to representation or additional seats in a legislature. This limit can ...
, with the opposition
Nationwide Social Democratic Party on the uncertain edge of the threshold barrier. As the only party contesting the election but not surpassing the threshold, Baytaq was viewed to have no chances of entering the parliament.
Results
In the early morning of 20 March 2023, the
Central Election Commission
An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...
(CEC) announced the preliminary election results summed up from electronic copies of the voting result protocols by the territorial and district election commissions. From there, the ruling
Amanat party had officially won majority of 53.9% of the proportional vote share, marking it one of the worst performances for the party since the
1999 legislative election. In the constituencies, the preliminary results showed the Amanat party winning an overwhelming majority of 22 seats (+1 independent candidate affiliated with the party) out of a total of 29 contested seats, leaving the rest of seven mandates to be won by independents in their representing electoral districts.
The final results of the 2023 legislative election were published by the CEC on 27 March 2023, revealing the upcoming seating composition of the 8th Majilis according to party-list, with the ruling Amanat party winning 40 seats, followed by
Auyl with 8 seats,
Respublica and
Aq Jol with 6 seats each, the
People's Party of Kazakhstan (QHP) with 5 seats, and the self-declared opposition
Nationwide Social Democratic Party (JSDP) secured 4 seats, while
Baytaq failed to surpass the 5%
electoral threshold
The electoral threshold, or election threshold, is the minimum share of the primary vote that a candidate or political party requires to achieve before they become entitled to representation or additional seats in a legislature. This limit can ...
.
Voter turnout
Results by region
Constituency vote
Party-list vote
Aftermath
In a speech given during the
Nowruz
Nowruz ( fa, نوروز, ; ), zh, 诺鲁孜节, ug, نەۋروز, ka, ნოვრუზ, ku, Newroz, he, נורוז, kk, Наурыз, ky, Нооруз, mn, Наурыз, ur, نوروز, tg, Наврӯз, tr, Nevruz, tk, Nowruz, ...
celebration event in
Astana
Astana, previously known as Akmolinsk, Tselinograd, Akmola, and most recently Nur-Sultan, is the capital city of Kazakhstan.
The city lies on the banks of the Ishim River in the north-central part of Kazakhstan, within the Akmola Region, tho ...
on 21 March 2023, President
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev
Kassym-Jomart Kemeluly Tokayev ( kk, Қасым-Жомарт Кемелұлы Тоқаев, Qasym-Jomart Kemelūly Toqaev ; born 17 May 1953) is a Kazakh politician and diplomat who is currently serving as the President of Kazakhstan since 12 Ju ...
praised the results of the legislative election as being "a very important step forward for all reforms" and "a worthy continuation of large-scale changes", marking personally that Kazakhstan had "entered a new era" with its newly formed political image as part of his successfully implemented one-year political reform plan, while completely ignoring reports of widespread
electoral fraud allegations. Tokayev described the election as being a "historic moment" symbolising the "Great Day of the Nation".
Analysis
The 2023 election marked a shift in the national political landscape of Kazakhstan in post-Nazarbayev era, as the ruling Amanat party lost its supermajority status and was left with a simple majority for the first time since
2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...
after losing 14 seats, with other contesting parties such as Auyl and Respublica emerging as the main frontrunning minor parties after entering the parliament and overtaking Aq Jol and QHP as the major minor parties in the election (which had held their statuses since previously entering the Mäjilis in
2012
File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...
). For the first time since 2004, independent candidates as well as politicians affiliated with opposition JSDP were also elected to the parliament. Despite the outlook of the election results, the status of JSDP as an opposition party was met with skepticism, particularly according to Mikhail Rozov from ''Ritm Eurasia'', who described the JSDP as being an opposition party only with "a very big stretch".
Ainur Kurmanov, leader of the banned
Socialist Movement of Kazakhstan, claimed that the newly composed
8th Mäjilis
The Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan of the 8th convocation (; ) is the current convocation of the Parliament of Kazakhstan.
Following the 2023 legislative election to the lower house Mäjilis, where the composition of the parliament was ...
would be "the most National populist, national-populist and Anti-Russian sentiment, Russophobic parliament in the entire history of Kazakhstan" that could lead to legislation such as strengthening ethnocracy and decommunization through the use "rehabilitation of the lists of Basmachi movement, Basmachi, Nazi collaborators and traitors to the motherland", as well as derussification through the "renaming of settlements and the adoption of corresponding new laws."
Various pro-government commentators praised the elections in a positive outlook. Political scientist Talgat Qaliev from the Institute of Ethno-Political Studies, believed that the election results would increase the "level of pluralism". Erlan Ahmedi, political scientist and chief expert of the Institute of Public Policy, described the 2023 election as being "unusual", voicing his belief on the continued process of democratization in Kazakhstan and predicting that the next legislative and presidential elections scheduled for 2028 and 2029, respectively, would be "even more interesting".
The legislative election results were also met with varied forms of skepticism and doubts. Political scientist Dosym Sätbaev had consistently described the election results as being a "political hoax" with the ruling Amanat party's victory as being intentionally pre-planned in parr with "Aqorda's script", and that the parliamentary elections were part of the chain of events that occurred since the 2022 Kazakh unrest, January 2022 unrest, as any possibilities of an aftermath political reform had been "finally slammed shut". Sätbaev also did not rule out claims of the election results being falsified. Shalkar Nurseitov, a political analyst and director of the Center for Policy Solutions in Kazakhstan, had asserted that aftermath of the legislative election "sends a message to the elites and the international community" in completion of President Tokayev's concentration of power in his hands. Raqym Oşaqbaev, economist and director of the Center for Applied Research TALAP, suggested that the newly elected parliament would not change as it would be continued to be in control by the "influence of the pro-government bureaucratic nomenclature", fearing that Kazakhstan is doomed to "further degradation and aggravation of the crisis". Catherine Putz from ''The Diplomat'', noted the low electoral turnout as being an indication of "lack of enthusiasm" amongst Kazakh voters and raised concerns regarding the legislative work done by newly elected independents as well as potentially unified parliamentary opposition against the ruling Amanat party, to which she expressed doubts that any of minor parties in the
Mäjilis
The Mäjilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan ( kk, Қазақстан Республикасы Парламенті Мәжілісі, Qazaqstan Respublikasy Parlamentî Mäjîlîsî, also transliterated as Mazhilis; "Assembly" in ...
would challenge the "status quo" and that the parliament overall would "resemble its former self".
Alexander Kireev, creator of the Electoral Geography project, expressed concerns over the official election results that exhibited a pattern of consistently high percentages of votes received by each party ending in repeating decimals rounded to hundredths (ex. 53.900% of votes for Amanat), to which Kireev suggested that this pattern of election results as well as voter turnout number could be an indication that the votes were not based on tallies from local precincts, but instead were fabricated separately by an unknown entity.
Election results complaints and lawsuits
On 19 March 2023, independent opposition candidates
Muhtar Taijan and
Sanjar Boqaev filed lawsuits to the Almaty administrative court, requesting the election results to be declared as illegal. In a following press conference held on 20 March, Taijan as well as Mäjilis candidate
Inga Imanbai expressed their dissatisfaction with the official results, alleging of election irregularities. Imanbai announced her intent to challenge the election results, accusing Kazakh authorities of rigging votes in favour of her challenger,
Ermurat Bapi
Ermurat Seitkazyuly Bapi (, , ''Ermūrat Seiıtqazyūly Bäpi''; born 7 March 1959) is a Kazakh politician and journalist who was the Chairman of Nationwide Social Democratic Party (JSDP) from 26 April to 6 September 2019. He is the editor of the ...
. She alleged that the authorities covered up the ballot boxes, urged public servants to vote for specific candidates, and claimed her campaign observers were facing pressure and were removed from polling stations. Erlan Stambekov, an official winner for Kazakhstan's 4th electoral district, Electoral district No. 4 of Almaty, was presumably shown to have actually taken only third place in the results within the constituency according to his losing candidate, Boqaev, who claimed of processing voting result protocols sent via WhatsApp that showed him winning the race with 4,459 votes compared to 2,825 votes cast for Stambekov. In Shymkent and Turkistan Region, a group of independent candidates, most notably Nūrjan Ältaev, had also sought to challenge the results of the election, to which they demanded re-election and requested President Tokayev to intervene in the issue.
Ältaev, in possession of numerous voting protocol records from his electoral district, argued that he had received majority of 35,178 votes in comparison to his official winning rival, Temir Qyryqbaev, who garnered 32,251 votes.
Independent Mäjilis candidate Luqpan Ahmediarov from West Kazakhstan Region, criticised the election results after losing to Abzal Quspan in Kazakhstan's 14th electoral district, Electoral district No. 14, to which election protocols collected in Oral, Kazakhstan, Oral by the Jaria public fund observers, had shown Ahmediarov winning 14,816 of votes contrary to Quspan's 8,922 votes.
In response, Ahmediarov announced that he would appeal the official results of the vote.
Marina Shiller, Aq Jol candidate in Karaganda Region, support the idea of holding a re-election as she claimed of receiving lots of personal contacts from residents that claimed to have voted for her in the election.
Despite widespread allegations and disputes over the election results from journalists and public figures, Bulat Abilov expressed doubt in a potential election audit in a ''Deutsche Welle'' interview, suggesting that it would only result in the punishment or reassignment of some election officials.
Daniar Äşimbaev, a political analyst, also expressed doubts about the possibility of an audit and any potential consequences for President Tokayev's reputation as he cited the election losses for government critics.
Opening of the 8th Parliament and government formation
Under the 2017 amendments to the Constitution of Kazakhstan, 2017 amendment adopted during
Nursultan Nazarbayev
Nursultan Abishuly Nazarbayev ( kk, Нұрсұлтан Әбішұлы Назарбаев, Nūrsūltan Äbişūlı Nazarbaev, ; born 6 July 1940) is a Kazakhs, Kazakh politician and military officer who served as the first President of Kazakhstan ...
's presidency, Article 67(4) of the
Constitution of Kazakhstan
The Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan ( kk, Қазақстан Республикасының Конституциясы, Qazaqstan Respublikasynyñ Konstitutsiasy, ) is the highest law of Kazakhstan, as stated in Article 4. The Constit ...
obliges the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, Prime Minister and his cabinet to resign in advance of the newly elected
Mäjilis
The Mäjilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan ( kk, Қазақстан Республикасы Парламенті Мәжілісі, Qazaqstan Respublikasy Parlamentî Mäjîlîsî, also transliterated as Mazhilis; "Assembly" in ...
for the 8th Parliament of Kazakhstan. Prime Minister Älihan Smaiylov on 19 March 2023 announced that his cabinet would step down after the election. On 27 March, President Tokayev signed a decree in convening the first session of the 8th Mäjilis for 29 March.
On 29 March 2023, at the first plenary session of the 8th Parliament, Amanat party chairman and deputy
Erlan Qoşanov was reappointed as the Mäjilis chairman in a unanimous vote, with MPs of Albert Rau (Amanat) and
Dania Espaeva
Dania Madiqyzy Espaeva ( kz, Дәния Мадиқызы Еспаева, ''Dänia Madiqyzy Espaeva'', ; born 5 March 1961) is a Kazakh politician and a member of the Mazhilis from 24 March 2016. She was the first ever Kazakh woman to be a preside ...
(Aq Jol) being elected to serve as his deputies. From there, the First Smaiylov Government resigned, leading for President Tokayev in appointing a caretaker government with Smaiylov serving as acting prime minister. Qoşanov at a following press briefing revealed that the party faction of Amanat would nominate its prime ministerial candidate in the "coming days". Speculations arose during Smaiylov's short tenure as prime minister about his chances of staying in the position, with political scientist Andrei Chebotarev noting that Smaiylov began his premiership by stabilizing Kazakhstan after the January 2022 unrest but the list of potential replacements was small, and also pointed out Tokayev's new agenda and previous criticisms of the government as factors contributing to the uncertainty surrounding Smaiylov's future.
The following day on 30 March 2023, Qoşanov in a meeting with Tokayev unveiled Smaiylov's candidacy by the Amanat party for his reappointment as prime minister. From there, Tokayev held talks with the party faction leaders of Mäjilis, where Tokayev endorsed Smaiylov for prime ministerial post, stating his awareness of "challenges facing the government". Smaiylov's candidacy was supported by an overwhelming majority of Mäjilis deputies, with seven voting against, most notably from the
Nationwide Social Democratic Party parliamentary group. As a result of the parliamentary vote, Tokayev signed a decree in officially reappointing Smaiylov as the prime minister, thus leading to a formation of the Second Smaiylov Government. Under changes following subsequent cabinet ministerial appointments, the government composition featured two (or 8.6%) new ministers out of 23 cabinet officials.
See also
*2022 Kazakh constitutional referendum
*2023 Kazakh local elections
*List of Mäjilis members of the 8th Parliament of Kazakhstan
Notes
References
External links
Central Election Commission of the Republic of KazakhstanSailau newsQazaqstan TV – Mäjilis Election-2023Archived
(in Kazakh)
Khabar Agency – Election 2023Archived
(in Kazakh)
{{Kazakhstan elections
2023 elections in Asia, Kazakhstan
2023 elections in Kazakhstan, Legislative
Elections in Kazakhstan
March 2023 events in Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan