Kazakhstan - 2021 Election
On 10 January 2021, voters in Kazakhstan went to the polls and elected a new parliament that looked very much like the old parliament. The Republic of Kazakhstan’s government and constitution concentrate power in the presidency. The law grants former president Nursultan Nazarbayev broad, lifetime authority over a range of government functions. The executive branch controls the legislature and the judiciary, as well as regional and local governments. Changes or amendments to the constitution require presidential consent.
Although the 2017 constitutional amendments increased legislative and executive branch authority in some spheres, the constitution concentrates power in the presidency itself. The president appoints and dismisses most high-level government officials, including the prime minister, cabinet, prosecutor general, the KNB chief, Supreme Court and lower-level judges, and regional governors. A presidential decree signed October 9 requires most of these appointments to be made in consultation with the chairman of the Security Council, a position that was granted in 2018 to then president Nazarbayev for his lifetime.
The Mazhilis (the lower house of parliament) must confirm the president’s choice of prime minister, and the Senate must confirm the president’s choices of prosecutor general, the KNB chief, Supreme Court judges, and National Bank head. Parliament has never failed to confirm a presidential nomination.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)/Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) observation mission judged that the 09 June 2020 presidential election, in which President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev received 71 percent of the vote, was marked by election day violations, including ballot stuffing and falsification of vote counts; restrictions on the freedoms of assembly, expression, and association; and overall showed “scant respect for democratic standards.” In 2017 the country selected 16 of 47 senators and members of the parliament’s upper house in an indirect election tightly controlled by local governors working in concurrence with the presidential administration.
ODIHR further observed that the problems went beyond election day itself. According to the final report, in recent years some opposition parties have either been banned or marginalized through restrictive legislation or criminal prosecution, and the ability of new political parties to register is significantly restricted by the Law on Political Parties. Moreover, the legal framework for candidate eligibility was highly restrictive. ODIHR also noted that 2017 constitutional and legislative amendments abolished self-nomination and introduced further eligibility requirements that significantly reduced the candidate pool, with requirements for education, residency, and experience in the civil service or elected government office.
While the constitution provides for freedom of speech and of the press, the government limited freedom of expression and exerted influence on media through a variety of means, including detention, imprisonment, criminal and administrative charges, laws, harassment, licensing regulations, and internet restrictions.
Independent media was severely limited. Many privately owned newspapers and television stations received government subsidies. The lack of transparency in media ownership and the dependence of many outlets on government contracts for media coverage are significant problems. Companies allegedly controlled by members of the former president Nazarbayev’s family or associates owned many of the broadcast media outlets that the government did not control outright.
The government limited individual ability to criticize the country’s leadership, and regional leaders attempted to limit criticism of their actions in local media. The law prohibits insulting the president or the president’s family, and penalizes “intentionally spreading false information” with fines of up to 12.63 million tenge ($32,793) and imprisonment for up to seven years.
Officials used the law’s libel and defamation provisions to restrict media outlets from publishing unflattering information. Both the criminal and civil codes contain articles establishing broad liability for libel and slander, with no statute of limitation or maximum amount of compensation. The requirement that owners, editors, distributors, publishing houses, and journalists prove the veracity of published information, regardless of its source, encouraged self-censorship at each level.
The last parliamentary elections were held in March 2016. The 107-seat Majlis is currently dominated by Nazarbaev’s Nur Otan, which has 84 deputies. The Communist People’s Party of Kazakhstan and the Aq Zhol party each have seven seats. The remaining nine seats are appointed by the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan, an advisory body controlled by Nazarbaev.
The Kazakh government has said six registered political parties will take part in the elections January 10, 2021. The parties include the ruling Nur Otan, four pro-government parties -- Aq Zhol, Auyl, Birlik, and the Communist People's Party -- and the OSDP. The polls will be the first parliamentary elections since President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev succeeded Nursultan Nazarbaev, who resigned in March last year after nearly three decades in power. Nazarbaev still maintains key positions of power, including head of the country’s powerful Security Council and the ruling Nur Otan party. He also enjoys almost limitless powers and immunity as elbasy -- leader of the nation.
The All-National Social Democratic Party of Kazakhstan (OSDP), which bills itself as an opposition group, has announced that it will boycott the upcoming parliamentary elections. The party leader Askhat Rakhimzhanov said that the OSDP will not take part in the elections, saying that the Central Asian nation’s political scene continues to be dominated by the “same” political elite. "The same rules, the same political parties,” Rakhimzhanov said without elaborating. The decision not to take part in the polls was made during the party conference on November 27, when the majority of the participants voted for boycotting the elections.
Kazakhstan's ruling Nur Otan party appeared set to sweep a parliamentary election in a vote lacking any serious opposition and with dozens of protesters detained in at least three major cities, including the capital. Former authoritarian President Nursultan Nazarbaev's Nur Otan, the ruling party since 1999, won almost 72 percent of the vote on 10 January 2021, according to an exit poll by a local pollster, the Public Opinion research institute.
Two other parties also cleared the 7 percent threshold needed to gain seats in the Mazhilis, or lower house of parliament. Nur Otan controlled 84 of the 107 seats in the outgoing Mazhilis. International election observers say that past elections in Kazakhstan have been neither free nor fair, citing electoral fraud, repression of opposition candidates, and restrictions on a free press.
The opposition boycotted the January 10 vote, saying nothing had changed this time around despite Nazarbaev's pivot to a less conspicuous public role nearly two years ago. After detaining several activists in the run-up to the vote, police kept up the pressure on election day, detaining dozens of protesters across the country. Deputy Interior Minister Arystangani Zapparov said late on January 10 that all those detained had been released without charges.
Along with Nur Otan (Radiant Fatherland), four other political parties loyal to the government -- Adal (Honest), Auyl (Village), Ak Zhol (Bright Path), and the People's Party (formerly the Communist People's Party) -- took part in the elections. The only officially registered political party that labels itself as an opposition group, the All-National Social Democratic Party (OSDP), announced in November that it was boycotting the elections because Kazakhstan's political landscape continues to be dominated by the "same" political elite.
The elections decided 98 of 107 seats in the Mazhilis. Nine other seats will be separately elected by the Assembly of People of Kazakhstan -- a political body chaired by Nazarbaev designed to represent ethnic groups in the country.
Kazakhstan's vote was its first parliamentary elections since Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev became president nearly two years ago. Campaigning was barely noticeable, but election officials still claimed that more than 63 percent of voters cast ballots. Despite Toqaev’s promises of allowing genuine opposition parties to participate in politics, no such parties were registered and allowed on the ballot, though several tried.
The result was the Nur-Otan party reportedly winning 76 seats, Aq Zhol 12, and the People’s Party of Kazakhstan (they dropped "communist" from their name in November 2020) 10 seats. Tthe three parties that won seats are neither gaining nor losing much support over the past decade.
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