Legislative elections were held in

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

on 9 December 1995, with a second round on 23 December. The result was a victory for the

People's Union of Kazakhstan Unity People's Union of Kazakhstan Unity was a big tent political party in Kazakhstan founded in 1993 and dissolved in 1999 when it was incorporated into the Fatherland and later the Nur Otan party. Notable members * Akezhan Kazhegeldin (Prime Minis ...

, which won 25 of the 67 seats. Voter turnout was 79.8%.Nohlen et al., p420

Background

In March 1994, the first post-independence general

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative ...

for the former unicameral Parliament took place. A year later, Kazakhstan's Constitutional Council invalidated this poll and declared the legislature illegal. President of the Republic

Nursultan Nazarbayev Nursultan Abishuly Nazarbayev ( kk, Нұрсұлтан Әбішұлы Назарбаев, Nūrsūltan Äbişūlı Nazarbaev, ; born 6 July 1940) is a Kazakh politician and military officer who served as the first President of Kazakhstan, in off ...

thereupon announced the dissolution of the Parliament and plans to rule by decree pending new elections. A majority of the 177 Deputies challenged the dissolution. On 30 August 1995, a new

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

providing, inter alia, for a smaller bicameral legislature was approved by

popular referendum A popular referendum (also known, depending on jurisdiction, as citizens' veto, people's veto, veto referendum, citizen referendum, abrogative referendum, rejective referendum, suspensive referendum or statute referendum)Maija SetäläReferendum ...

. On 2 October, the President announced the December election dates.

Elections

The overall conduct of the polling was overseen by the Central Election Commission (OSK). According to it, 285 candidates (128 self-nominated, 157 registered to parties or public associations) ran for the 67 Mazhilis seats. As for the Senate, 49 candidates vied for the 40 elective seats, with 14 of the 20 constituencies being uncontested. There were a series of limitations on pre-election campaigning. The 9 December polling day for the Mazhilis was monitored by domestic and international observers and saw a reported turnout of over 79%. Observers from the

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, pro ...

questioned this figure, citing a number of irregularities, including multiple voting by the same individual. At the end of the day, only 41 candidates were declared elected with the required thresholds. Two weeks later, on 23 December, another 13 Deputies were chosen. Finally, on 4 February 1996, the remaining 13 seats were filled. Of the opposition parties, many boycotted the poll. On 30 January, the newly constituted Parliament met in joint session for the first time. The Council of Ministers was headed by

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

Akezhan Kazhegeldin Akejan Kajegeldin ( kz, Әкежан Мағжанұлы Қажыгелдин, ''Äkejan Mağjanūly Qajygeldin''; born 27 March 1952) is a Kazakh politician who served as the 2nd Prime Minister of Kazakhstan from 12 October 1994 until his resign ...

Results

References

External links

Inter-Parliamentary Union Report on 1995 Kazakhstan ElectionsParliament of Republic of KazakhstanCentral Election Commission
{{Kazakhstan elections

Legislative election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

Elections in Kazakhstan Election and referendum articles with incomplete results