Parliamentary Elections 2016: Five voting stations to be opened in Russia

Leading mass media were invited to cover the course of election.

During the meeting, Minister Counsellor of the Kazakh Embassy in the Russian Federation Marat Syzdykov explained the main provisions of Kazakhstan’s election legislation and organizational issues of electoral campaign as well as observance of the elections.

He reminded that the registration of the party lists from the political parties was completed on February 19. According to him, six political parties will be included in the ballot-paper: Nur Otan People’s Democratic Party, Communist People’s Party of Kazakhstan, Ak Zhol Democratic Party of Kazakhstan, Birlik Political Party, Nationwide Social and Democratic Party and Auyl People’s Democratic Patriotic Party.

107 deputies will be elected to the Majilis of the Kazakh Parliament. 98 of them will be elected as per the party lists. They are nominated by the political parties which must overcome a 7-percent barrier. Other nine deputies are nominated by the People’s Assembly of Kazakhstan.

The representatives of the Russian-based media were informed of the order of registration of candidates to the Majilis deputies elected by the People’s Assembly of Kazakhstan. He noted that candidates from the Assembly will be elected March 21, the next day after the elections.

As per the calendar plan approved by the Central Election Commission, the nomination of candidates from the People’s Assembly of Kazakhstan started February 20 and will last till February 29. The registration of the candidates will be carried out during the period from February 29 till March 5.

“Kazakhstan has a specific system of elections. There is no such a system in the world,” the Kazakh diplomat noted.

Syzdykov informed also of the composition of the candidates in party lists.

“187 of the candidates (79.9%) are men and 47 (or 20.1%) are women. 67 candidates or 28.6% are the employees of non-public organizations or enterprises. 47 candidates or 20.1% are the deputies of the Majilis of the Parliament of the 5^th convocation. The average age of the registered candidates is 52. The youngest of them is 26,” he said.

After then the diplomat reminded that the agitation stage of the electoral campaign will last till March 18, and March 19 will be the Day of Silence.

It was noted that the election funds of the six political parties participating in the elections received 519,100,000 tenge, which will be spent on all agitation procedures.

As many as 700 foreign representatives (CIS Executive Council, CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, ODIHR/OSCE) will observe the elections in Kazakhstan. The accreditation of the observers from foreign countries and international organizations will last till 14 March.

Besides, Syzdykov reminded that the accreditation of foreign journalists will start on 22 January 2016 and will end 14 March 2016.

The Kazakh diplomat told also about the order and procedures of voting by Kazakhstani residents in Russia.

“The residents of Kazakhstan staying in the territory of the Russian Federation will be able to vote at five voting stations to be opened in diplomatic missions of Kazakhstan: in Moscow, Saint-Petersburg, Kazan, Astrakhan and Omsk. The voting will be held from 07:00 a.m. till 08:00 p.m. In whole, 65 voting stations will be opened abroad,” noted the Ambassador.