Politics of Kazakhstan

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

The politics of Kazakhstan takes place in the framework of a

government
and the two chambers of parliament.

None of the elections held in Kazakhstan have been considered free or fair by Western standards with issues noted including ballot tampering, multiple voting, harassment of opposition candidates and press censorship.[1][2]

Executive branch

Image Post Name Party Term
President
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev Amanat 20 March 2019
Prime Minister Älihan Smaiylov Amanat 5 January 2022

The president is elected by popular vote for a five-year term. The prime minister and first deputy prime minister are appointed by the president. Council of Ministers is also appointed by the president. President Nazarbayev expanded his presidential powers by decree: only he can initiate constitutional amendments, appoint and dismiss the government, dissolve Parliament, call referendums at his discretion, and appoint administrative heads of regions and cities.

The president is the head of state. He also is the commander in chief of the armed forces and may veto legislation that has been passed by the Parliament. President

Bakhytzhan Sagintayev
became the Prime Minister in September 2016.

Legislative branch

The

senators for life
. Majilis deputies and the government both have the right of legislative initiative, though most legislation considered by the Parliament is proposed by the government. Several deputies are elected from the Assembly of People of Kazakhstan.

Judicial branch

There are 65 judges on the Supreme Court of Kazakhstan. There are seven members of the Constitutional Council. Out of the 7 members, 3 are appointed by the president.

There are local and oblast (regional) level courts, and a national-level Supreme Court. Local level courts serve as courts of first instance for less serious crimes such as theft and vandalism. Oblast level courts hear more serious criminal cases and also hear cases in rural areas where no local courts have been established.[4] A judgment by a local court may be appealed to the oblast level. The Supreme Court is a cassation court that hears appeals from the oblast courts.

The constitution establishes a seven-member Constitutional Council to determine the constitutionality of laws adopted by the

referendums
and interprets the constitution. The president appoints three of its members, including the chair.

Under constitutional amendments of 1998, the president appoints a chairperson of a Higher Judicial Council, which nominates judges for the Supreme Court. The Council consists of the chairperson of the Constitutional Council, the chairperson of the Supreme Court, the

Minister of Justice, senators, judges, and other persons appointed by the president. The president recommends and the Senate (upper legislative chamber) approves these nominees for the Supreme Court. Oblast judges (nominated by the Higher Judicial Council) are appointed by the president. Lower level judges are appointed by the president from a list presented by the Higher Judicial Council. Under legislation approved in 2000, judges serve for life.[5]

Political parties and elections

Early presidential elections were held in Kazakhstan on 9 June 2019 following the resignation of long-term president Nursultan Nazarbayev.[6] Originally scheduled for 2020, seven candidates were registered to participate in the elections, including incumbent president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, who had assumed the presidency three months before the elections following the resignation of Nazarbayev. Tokayev was subsequently re-elected with 71% of the vote. His closest challenger, Amirjan Qosanov of the Ult Tagdyry party, received 16%.

CandidatePartyVotes%
Federation of Trade Unions
182,8981.98
Jambyl AhmetbekovCommunist People's Party167,6491.82
Sadibek TügelUly Dala Qyrandary84,5820.92
Total9,216,410100.00
Valid votes9,216,41099.38
Invalid/blank votes57,7000.62
Total votes9,274,110100.00
Registered voters/turnout11,960,36477.54
Source: CEC
Birlik
21,4840.290New
Members elected by the Assembly of People90
Total7,522,868100.001070
Valid votes7,522,86899.43
Invalid/blank votes43,2820.57
Total votes7,566,150100.00
Registered voters/turnout9,810,85277.12
Source: CEC, CEC

International organization participation

In 1999, Kazakhstan applied for observer status at the

UN Human Rights Council.[7] Despite this, Kazakhstan is still considered to have a very poor human rights record by analysts such as The Economist Intelligence Unit.[8]

(observer)

See also

References

  1. ISSN 0261-3077
    . Retrieved 2020-03-15.
  2. ^ Chivers, C.J. (6 December 2005). "Kazakh President Re-elected; voting Flawed, Observers Say". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 April 2014. Kazakhstan has never held an election that was not rigged.
  3. ^ "Официальный сайт Парламента Республики Казахстан". www.parlam.kz.
  4. ^ Alexei Trochev (2017). "Between convictions and reconciliations: Processing criminal cases in Kazakhstani courts" (PDF). Cornell International Law Journal. 50. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
  5. ^ Republic of Kazakhstan, Embassy. "Kazakhstan Democracy". Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  6. ^ Kazakhstan to hold early presidential election on June 9 Archived 2019-04-09 at the Wayback Machine Al Jazeera, 9 April 2019
  7. ^ "Results of the election of 18 members of the Human Rights Council held on 12 November 2012". United Nations.
  8. ^ "EIU Democracy Index 2018 - World Democracy Report". www.eiu.com.

External links