Kazakh president dissolves lower parliamentary chamber, sets new elections for March 19
ASTANA. Jan 19 (Interfax) - Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has signed a decree dissolving the Majilis (the lower chamber) of the 7th parliament and the maslikhats (local legislatures).
"In line with the constitution, following consultations with the chairpersons of the parliament's chambers and the prime minister, I signed decrees on dissolving the Majilis and the early termination of the maslikhats' powers," Tokayev said in a statement posted on the presidential website on Thursday.
"Early elections to the Majilis will take place on March 19, 2023," the statement says.
The dates for elections to the maslikhats of all levels will be set by the Central Elections Commission, he said.
As mentioned by Tokayev, 70% of the Majilis members will be elected on party tickets and 30% in single-mandate constituencies. This ratio will be 50-50 in elections to the maslikhats of regions and the three major cities that administratively do not belong to any region (Astana, Almaty, and Shymkent). In elections to maslikhats of districts and regional cities, people will vote only for candidates in single-mandate constituencies.
Kazakhstan earlier significantly simplified the registration procedures for political parties. In particular, the membership qualification for a party to be officially registered was cut by three-quarters, from 20,000 to 5,000 members, and the minimum number of party members to form regional offices was cut by two-thirds, from 600 to 200.
Tokayev also described the decision to lower the election threshold in elections to the Majilis to 5% from 7% as a major step toward the country's democratization.
The parliament of Kazakhstan is the top representative body performing legislative functions. It comprises two chambers, the Senate and the Majilis, functioning on a permanent basis.
The previous regular election to the Majilis took place in January 2021. Running in it were five parties, and three of them were able to overcome the 7% election threshold to qualify. The ruling party Nur Otan, currently called Amanat, got 76 parliamentary seats, the Ak Zhol party 12 seats, and the People's Party ten seats.
The Majilis of the 8th parliament will include 98 lawmakers elected based on a mixed voting system. From now on, candidates for the Majilis will be able to run not only after being put on party tickets but also in single-mandate constituencies, including through self-nomination.
The new regulations have also lowered the election threshold for political parties running for the Majilis to 5% from 7%. In single-mandate constituencies, a candidate has to garner more votes than any of their competitors to be elected.