Global Information2021 Kazakh legislative election information
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98 of the 107 seats in the Mäjilis 54 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Registered | 11,919,241 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Turnout | 63.25% ( 13.87pp) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Results by region | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Politics of Kazakhstan |
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Legislative elections were held in Kazakhstan on 10 January 2021 to elect the members of the Mäjilis to the 7th Parliament of Kazakhstan.[1] They were the eighth legislative elections in Kazakhstan's history since independence and coincided with the 2021 local elections. The elections were the first to be held under Kassym-Jomart Tokayev's presidency and the first since 2004 to be held at the normally scheduled date, rather than due to an early dissolution of the Mäjilis.[2][3]
The ruling Nur Otan party maintained its dominant party status in the Mäjilis by winning 71.1% of the vote and sweeping 76 seats; however, it fared worse than the prior election in 2016, losing 8 seats and 11.1% of votes, while two parties nominally in the opposition (Aq Jol and People's Party of Kazakhstan, present in the Mäjilis since 2012, performed better, each seeing a small gain in votes and seats. Despite some expectations, the other contesting parties failed to reach the 7% electoral threshold, and thus were not able to enter the Parliament. Several opposition groups called for a boycott and protests in the elections, citing lack of openness and fairness. The only registered party which poses true opposition to the government, the Nationwide Social Democratic Party, for the first time in a legislative election refused to contest the race, while other groups encouraged to tactically vote for the Aq Jol to at least draw away some votes from Nur Otan. The legislative election saw a voter turnout of 63.3%,the lowest since 1999. The Assembly of People of Kazakhstan indirectly elected its allotted nine members to the Mäjilis on 11 January 2021.
Campaigning was focused on issues such as reforms enacted by President Tokayev, economic hardships caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, social issues, land sales and the agricultural sector. The election was plagued by several corruption scandals regarding former president Nursultan Nazarbayev's circles, diplomatic issues between Kazakhstan and Russia over controversial land claims, as well as pressure and crackdowns on human rights groups, journalists, activists, and election observers. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) called the elections as "low-key" with lack of "genuine competition", as all the contesting parties supported Tokayev's policies or espoused pro-government positions.[4]
On election day unsanctioned protests resulted in detentions of people across the cities of Kazakhstan. The Kazakh Ministry of Internal Affairs said that all participants were released with no charges.
The new session of the Mäjilis first convened on 15 January 2021. From there, Nurlan Nigmatulin was reelected as the Mäjilis Chair while Askar Mamin was reappointed as the Prime Minister after being nominated by Tokayev to the post.
- ^ "РИА Новости". Telegram. Retrieved 2021-02-14.
- ^ "Historic Kazakhstan election sparks hope for a taste of democracy | DW | 08.06.2019". DW.COM. Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 2020-10-22.
- ^ Putz, Catherine (2020-10-21). "Date Set for Kazakhstan's Parliamentary Elections". thediplomat.com. Retrieved 2020-10-21.
- ^ "Kazakh ruling party sweeps election; OSCE says vote uncompetitive". www.aljazeera.com. 2021-01-11. Archived from the original on 2021-01-11. Retrieved 2021-01-12.