Local elections were held in

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

on 10 January 2021 to elect in total of all 3,246 members of the 214

mäslihat A Mäslihat (, ) is a local representative body (parliament) in Kazakhstan that is elected by a population of a region, district and city. Etymology The word mäslihat is derived from the Arabic مَصْلَحَة ('' maṣlaḥa''), meaning " ...

s ''(local assemblies)'' which included 489 regional members and 2,757 municipal members. This is the first election to take place under

party-list proportional representation Party-list proportional representation (list-PR) is a system of proportional representation based on preregistered Political party, political parties, with each party being Apportionment (politics), allocated a certain number of seats Apportionm ...

system that was enacted in 2018, giving political parties a role in local races and it coincided with the 2021 legislative elections. The ruling

Nur Otan Amanat (; ; officially stylized in all caps), previously known as Nur Otan (; ), is a Ruling party, ruling List of political parties in Kazakhstan, political party of Kazakhstan and the largest political association in the country, with around 8 ...

party swept a majority of 3083 local seats followed by the

Auyl People's Democratic Patriotic Party The Auyl Party (; lit. 'Aul, Village', , ') is a political party in Kazakhstan. It was originally founded by Gani Qaliev on 30 January 2000 before eventually merging with the Party of Patriots of Kazakhstan on 5 September 2015. The party is curre ...

(AUYL) with 268 and the

Ak Zhol Democratic Party The Aq Jol (, ), officially the "Aq Jol" Democratic Party of Kazakhstan (, ) is a liberal-conservative political party in Kazakhstan. The Aq Jol is led by Azat Peruaşev, a deputy of the Mäjilis. The Aq Jol party was formed in early 2002, afte ...

with 267 and

People's Party of Kazakhstan The People's Party of Kazakhstan is a Left-wing politics, left-wing Social democracy, social democratic political party in Kazakhstan, chaired by Ermūhamet Ertısbaev. The secretaries of the central committee are Turgyn Syzdyqov, Gauhar Nugmano ...

with 107 seats while the

Adal Adal may refer to: *A short form for Germanic names in ''aþala-'' (Old High German ''adal-''), "nobility, pedigree"; see Othalan ** Adál Maldonado (1948–2020), Puerto Rican artist ** Adal Ramones (born 1969), Mexican television show host ** A ...

, which earned the fewest total votes of 2.1%, had managed to garner 24 seats in the

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

mäslihats by passing the 7%

electoral threshold The electoral threshold, or election threshold, is the minimum share of votes that a candidate or political party requires before they become entitled to representation or additional seats in a legislature. This limit can operate in various ...

in some races.

Background

Throughout the history of Kazakhstan, local deputies were elected from

single-member districts A single-member district or constituency is an electoral district represented by a single officeholder. It contrasts with a multi-member district, which is represented by multiple officeholders. In some countries, such as Australia and India ...

. In 2018, the

Parliament of Kazakhstan The Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan is the bicameral legislature of Kazakhstan, consisting of the upper house, the Senate, and the lower house, the Mäjilis. Both chambers conduct legislative sessions at the Parliament House in the cap ...

approved a bill that would allow all the members be chosen through

. According to the

Ministry of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

, "the proportional system will ensure full representation of all political parties, will allow the development of party building, increase the role of parties in the political life of the country and take into account the interests of the people." However, this move was met with skepticism as it would bar self-nominated candidates from running in the races or even being MP of the

which some accused was a violation of the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

Campaign

On 10 December 2020, 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 ...

(OSK) registered in total of 8,334 candidates competing in the local races that were included in all 832 party lists in which 216 were from

, 215 from

, 174 from Ak Zhol, 158 from

Auyl The Auyl Party (; lit. 'Aul, Village', , ') is a political party in Kazakhstan. It was originally founded by Gani Qaliev on 30 January 2000 before eventually merging with the Party of Patriots of Kazakhstan on 5 September 2015. The party is curre ...

, 69 from People's Party.

Results

Regional

Overall results

Seats earned by region

Municipal

Nationwide results

References

{{Kazakhstan elections

Local Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Local'' (comics), a limited series comic book by Bria ...

Local elections in Kazakhstan January 2021 in Kazakhstan