What to expect from Kazakhstan’s political life in 2023

Senate election

2023 started for Kazakhstan with the election to the Senate, an upper chamber of the Kazakh Parliament, on January 14. Fifty-five candidates competed for 20 open seats in the chamber because some of the deputies’ terms were coming to an end.

The Senate election in Kazakhstan is conducted through indirect suffrage by a secret ballot. Senators are elected by deputies of maslikhats (local representative bodies) of all levels.

The election took place in all 17 regions and cities of national significance - Astana, Almaty and Shymkent. 3,167 deputies of the local maslikhats were included in the list of electors.

The average age of the newly elected deputies is 53.8 years. The voter turnout nationwide reached 91.7 percent or 2,904 voters out of 3,167 maslikhat deputies included in the voter lists.

Majilis and maslikhat elections

Majilis is a lower chamber of the Kazakh Parliament. It consists of 98 deputies elected according to the procedure established by the Constitutional Law as of November 5, 2022.

Last year’s national referendum, which introduced amendments to one-third of the country’s Constitution, also changed how the Majilis election will take place. Previously, the election was held based on party lists, when after the victory of several parties, the seats were distributed in proportion to the votes received by these parties.

Now, 70 percent of Majilis deputies will be elected from party lists and 30 percent from single-mandate districts, which allows citizens to vote for specific candidates.

Sixty-nine deputies shall be elected from political parties by party lists in a single nationwide constituency and 29 from single-member territorial constituencies based on universal, equal and direct suffrage by secret ballot.

The decision to dissolve the current convocation of the Majilis came following Tokayev’s consultations with the speakers of the chambers of Parliament and the Prime Minister, per the country’s constitution.

But the idea to hold elections to the Majilis and maslikhats in the first half of this year, ahead of their scheduled date in 2026, was announced by Tokayev in his address to the nation in September 2022.

«The period from the announcement of this initiative to the voting day will be more than six months. During the years of independence, candidates and political parties have never had so much time to prepare for an election campaign,» reads Tokayev’s statement from January 19.

Elections to maslikhats of regions and cities of national significance will also be held according to the mixed electoral system, in a ratio of 50 to 50.

In the elections to the maslikhats of districts and cities of regional significance, citizens will vote only for candidates in single-mandated constituencies.

According to Amina Urpekova, a chief expert at the Political Research Department of the Kazakh Institute for Strategic Studies, a similar mixed electoral system is in place in other countries worldwide.

«In such countries as New Zealand, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Lithuania, Mexico, Great Britain, and others. Of course, each country has distinctive features, but in general, it is believed that the mixed electoral system has absorbed the positive aspects of both proportional and majoritarian systems and allows for balancing their shortcomings,» she said.

She also believes the new system will give impetus to the development of the party and multi-party systems in Kazakhstan.

«For example, in New Zealand, after the introduction of a mixed system, smaller political parties representing ethnic and linguistic minorities gained representation in Parliament. Moreover, political parties will have to actively promote themselves at the regional level since elections in single-member districts provide an additional chance of winning seats in the country's legislature,» she said.

What are other changes to be seen in upcoming elections

In his recent statement, State Counselor Erlan Karin outlined key novelties in the upcoming elections.

Besides single-member districts, candidates can now be nominated by parties and non-governmental organizations and self-nominated.

The threshold for passing parties to the Majilis was lowered from 7 percent to 5 percent, and a 30 percent quota for women, youth, and persons with special needs on party lists will also be in effect in the distribution of mandates.

There will also be no quota from the Assembly of People of Kazakhstan, one of the constitutional amendments adopted last year.

For the first time, ballots for the elections to the Majilis and maslikhats will have an «against all» option.

Following constitutional reform, registering political parties became easier in Kazakhstan. The registration threshold was reduced fourfold from 20,000 to 5,000 members, and the minimum number of regional party representatives was reduced from 600 to 200 people.

Over the past six months, the Kazakh Ministry of Justice has registered two new parties, which has not been happening for over a decade. One party is the Baitak party, with a green and environmental agenda, and another is the Respublika party, which «aims to reset all spheres of the state and the life of the people of Kazakhstan.»

«All these institutional changes will strengthen political competition, ensure the openness of the political system, and promote the emergence of a new cohort of politicians,» said Tokayev.

Direct election of akims of districts and cities of regional importance

In 2023, Kazakhstan will have direct election of akims of districts and cities of regional importance, a result of the constitutional referendum, which was signed into law on November 5, 2022.

It is another step in reformatting state governance after the country had the first direct elections of akims of cities of district significance, villages, settlements and rural districts in 2021.

In 2023, it will be held in a pilot mode, and starting from 2025, it will be introduced everywhere in the remaining districts and cities of regional significance.

«Renewal of the corps of rural akims will continue. It is planned to hold direct elections of more than 350 akims of villages, settlements and rural districts. These elections will cover more than a thousand rural settlements,» said Kazakhstan’s State Counselor Erlan Karin.

From what we can see now, 2023 promises to be no less eventful than 2022. Officials set high hopes that elections will bring new faces to the country’s political life. But what remains important is that the promises of new deputies and akims are fulfilled to change ordinary citizens' lives.

Written by Assel Satubaldina