Ricardo Pelizzo: 2026 referendum has been an unconditional success

“The 2026 Referendum has been an unconditional success. The electoral turnout was very high, about 73 per cent, which means that it was nearly 20 points higher than the electoral turnout in the 2023 parliamentary elections. More than 80 per cent of the voters who have voted in the referendum supported the constitutional reforms. This means that the reform received a clear endorsement from the Kazakhstani population and enjoys a great deal of legitimacy. I believe that this is the result of the combination of three factors: first, the government and the reformers understood very well what the Kazakhstani population wanted; second, they proposed a good set of reforms and, third, were able to explain well to the population why these constitutional reforms are so beneficial for Kazakhstan,” Dr. Riccardo Pelizzo said.

“I think that the 2026 Referendum is a remarkable success story. Referenda have become increasingly more popular worldwide, but in many cases they fail to produce beneficial outcomes. In some cases, only a small number or a small percentage of the voters votes in the referendum--which means that the population did not see any merit in the referendum or that the government failed to explain the importance of the referendum. In other cases, a good number of voters goes to polls but defeats the government proposal,” the Acting Dean and Professor at Nazarbayev University’s Graduate School of Public Policy added.

The 2026 referendum in Kazakhstan, in his opinion, is instead a considerable success. The reform was good, the content of the reform was good. The referendum was motivated by good intentions (to prepare Kazakhstan for the future challenges and to regain citizen trust). The process by which the new constitutional dispositions have been designed was also very good because it was highly participatory. The content and the motivation of the referendum were properly communicated to the population. The population was pleased with the process and the content of the reform as evidenced by the high level of turnout and by widespread support for the reforms. In many ways this referendum is a model that foreign countries may wish to emulate.

The expert went on to share a few thoughts about the content of the reform.

“Parliaments are institutions that are expected to perform three basic functions: they perform a representative function in the sense that they represent the views, the values, and the demands of the population; they perform a legislative function because they have the power to introduce legislative proposals and, more importantly, to approve legislation. No legislative proposal or bill can become a law without the consent of the parliament. Finally, parliaments also perform an oversight function in the sense that in addition to being accountable to the voters they are expected to keep the government accountable – which is why political scientists speak, in this regard, of inter-institutional accountability,” he noted.

According to Dr. Pelizzo, thanks to the Constitutional reforms, the new parliament will be able to secure much higher levels of accountability and to produce much better legislation.

Earlier, Qazinform reported that international observers monitoring Kazakhstan’s nationwide referendum positively assessed the organization and conduct of the vote, highlighting strong technical preparation, transparency of procedures, and the professionalism of election staff.

Dr. Riccardo Pelizzo is Acting Dean and Professor at the Graduate School of Public Policy at Nazarbayev University and an internationally recognized expert in political development. His research focuses on institutional reform, governance, and the performance of political institutions in developing countries, with particular emphasis on parliamentary capacity, accountability, and political stability.