Astana, 11 February 2023 (TDI): The nomination period for the March 19 elections to the Mazhilis, the lower house of the Kazakh Parliament, ended on February 8 at 6 PM.
Seven political parties in Kazakhstan submitted their party lists with a total of 283 candidates to the Central Election Commission (CEC).
This information has been shared by Konstantin Petrov, the Deputy Chair of the CEC, during their meeting on February 9 in Astana.
The Amanat Party submitted 90 candidates, the most of any party, and won the most seats in the 2021 Mazhilis elections after garnering 71.09 percent of the vote.
There were 54 candidates submitted by the Aq Zhol Democratic Party, 25 by the Auyl People’s Democratic Patriotic Party, 18 by the Baitak Green Party, 19 by the National Social Democratic Party, 52 by the People’s Party of Kazakhstan, and 25 by the Respublica party.
According to Petrov, “A political party had no right to include persons who were not party members in the party lists.
The number of people included in the party list should not exceed the established number of deputy mandates distributed among political parties by 30 percent.
This is a maximum of 90 people. It could also have been less. The parties themselves determined how many people to include in the party list.”
Also read: Upcoming elections in Kazakhstan: Overview & key information
Mazhilis and maslikhat elections will be held on March 19 under the new procedures resulting from the Constitutional Amendments passed last year.
For the first time since 2004, 29 of the 98 chamber’s deputies will be chosen from districts with a single mandate.
According to Petrov, 609 candidates were nominated to run in districts with a single mandate. The highest ratios in the nation were 126 candidates nominated in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, from two districts, and 143 candidates from three districts in Almaty.
CEC Chairman Nurlan Abdirov shared that there have typically been 21 candidates nominated to run in districts with a single mandate.
The number of candidates competing for one seat is highest in Astana, where 63 people are running, and it is lowest in the Ulytau Region, where six people are running.
Abdirov further noted that 14,207 candidates submitted nominations to the CEC, including 8,922 Mazhilis and 13,315 Maslikhat deputy candidates.
Candidates will run for 3,415 maslikhat seats (3,415 at the regional level, 617 at the city level, and 98 at the district level) as well as 98 seats in the Mazhilis.
He stated that the CEC will continue to review and approve the documents up until February 18. The election campaign will run from the time of registration until midnight on March 18th.
The next day, March 18, will be a silent day. Following the election on March 19, the CEC will have ten days to declare the results.
