The decision of the President of Kazakhstan to dissolve the country's parliament and call new elections was justified by the Administration of the President of Kazakhstan by a mandatory appointment: “The holding of early elections to the Majilis and maslikhats is dictated by the logic of the constitutional reform supported by citizens at a national referendum. Based on its results, our country has switched to new, more fair and competitive rules for the formation of a representative branch of power.”
70% of the deputies of the Mazhilis will be elected from party lists, and 30% from single-mandate constituencies. According to the mixed electoral system, depending on 50 to 50, there are also elections to maslikhats of cities and towns of republican significance. And about elections to maslikhats and cities of regional significance, citizens will vote only for the case in single-seat constituencies.
“The new model for the formation of the Mazhilis and maslikhats makes it possible to fully satisfy the interests of voters both at the national level and locally, to ensure a wide range of views among representatives of government bodies. This will create favorable conditions for the sustainable development of society,” Tokaev said.
He also said that as part of the implementation of the constitutional reform, the procedure for registering party crimes was also simplified. In particular, the registration threshold has been reduced by four times - from 20 to 5 thousand copies. From 600 to 200 people. As a result of these and other systemic measures, several new parties were detained in the country for the first time.
In addition, the decision to include the column “against all” on the ballot papers was of fundamental importance. A serious step in the democratization of the country was the reduction of the bar from 7 to 5% for the party to move to the Mazhilis. Another unexpected innovation was the identification of a 30% quota for women, youth and persons with identified cases in the distribution of deputy mandates. All these institutional changes will increase political competition, ensure the openness of the political system, and comply with the requirements of other policies, Tokayev envisages.
CentralasianLIGHT.org
January 20, 2023