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 15 January 2012. The result was a victory for the

Nur Otan Amanat (), previously known as Nur Otan () until 2022, is a big tent political party in Kazakhstan. Being the largest to date, it has been the ruling party of the country from 1999, with a membership claiming to be of over 762,000 people in 2007. ...

party, which won 83 of the 98 seats in the Mazhilis. However, 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, prom ...

(OSCE) stated that the election "did not meet fundamental principles of democratic elections."OSCE Monitors Criticize Kazakh Vote Failings

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a United States government funded organization that broadcasts and reports news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Caucasus, and the Middle East where it says tha ...

, 16 January 2012 The elections marked the first time that the second-placed party would gain parliamentary seats irrespective of whether it cleared the 7%

electoral threshold The electoral threshold, or election threshold, is the minimum share of the primary vote that a candidate or political party requires to achieve before they become entitled to representation or additional seats in a legislature. This limit can ...

.At Least One Party To Enter New Kazakh Assembly

, 16 January 2012 Due to the

Zhanaozen massacre The Zhanaozen massacre took place in Kazakhstan's western Mangystau Region over the weekend of 16–17 December 2011. At least 14 protestors were killed by police in the oil town of Zhanaozen as they clashed with police on the country's Independe ...

and the resulting

state of emergency A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to be able to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state du ...

there, the election was not planned to be held in

Zhanaozen Zhanaozen ( kk, Jañaözen, , pronounced �ɑŋɑøˈzʲen, formerly known as Novy Uzen (russian: Новый Узень), is a city in the Mangystau Region of Kazakhstan located south-east of the city of Aktau. The name of the town means "new ...

. However, this decision was overturned on 10 January 2012.

Background

In the 2007 Kazakh legislative elections, the pro-presidential party

won all the 98 contested seats in the Mazhilis, which eliminated any form of opposition, bringing the

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

under a

single-party A one-party state, single-party state, one-party system, or single-party system is a type of sovereign state in which only one political party has the right to form the government, usually based on the existing constitution. All other parties ...

control. This received criticism and pressure from international and opposition groups in the country. In an interview to

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was estab ...

, Prime Minister of Kazakhstan

Karim Massimov Karim Qazhymqanuly Massimov ( kk, Кәрім Қажымқанұлы Мәсімов, ; born 15 June 1965) Following President

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 ...

's reelection in the 2011 presidential election, he announced the promise of bringing a "new era of democratic reforms." Nazarbayev's advisor Ermukhamet Ertysbayev stated that the next Mazhilis convocation have a

two-party system A two-party system is a political party system in which two major political parties consistently dominate the political landscape. At any point in time, one of the two parties typically holds a majority in the legislature and is usually referre ...

in which he used comparison with the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

as an example. Opposition activist

Vladimir Kozlov Oleg Aleksandrovich Prudius (russian: Олег Александрович Прудиус; uk, Олег Олександрович Прудіус, ''Oleh Oleksandrovych Prudius''; born April 27, 1979) better known by his ring name Vladimir Koz ...

criticized the move, saying that the authorities wouldn't let real opposition groups enter the Parliament.

Dissolution of the 4th Mazhilis

On 9 November 2011, Ermukhamet Ertysbayev, in an interview with the Vremya newspaper, expressed his opinion that “theoretically, it can be assumed” that the Mazhilis MP's at the plenary come up with an initiative to dissolve the

. At the same time, Ertysbayev said that “Kazakhstan should enter the third decade of independence with at least a two-party Parliament." That same day, Mazhilis Chair

Oral Muhamedjanov Oral Baigonysuly Muhamedjanov ( kk, Орал Байғонысұлы Мұхамеджанов, ''Oral Baiğonysūly Mūhamedjanov;'' 11 November 1948 – 15 October 2013) was a Kazakh politician, member of the Mazhilis from 2004 to 2013, and the c ...

dismissed claims of the Parliament's dissolution as rumors. At the same time, a number of MP's said that they expected the issue of self-dissolution to be raised. The following day on 10 November, members of the Mazhilis Nurtai Sabilianov and Viktor Rogalev announced to the media representatives an appeal to

with a request to adopt a decree on the dissolution of the 5th Mazhilis and mäslihats. 53 Mazhilis MP's signed the appeal. The proposal was substantiated by several reasons: the expectation of a second wave of the global financial and economic crisis in 2012 and the expediency of focusing on overcoming a possible crisis, without being distracted by the electoral cycle, and the need to form a Parliament of at least two political parties. On 16 November 2011, the President

signed a decree "On the dissolution of the Mazhilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan of the fourth convocation and the appointment of early elections of deputies of the Mazhilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan", according to which the Mazhilis was dissolved, and the elections of MP's elected by party lists were scheduled for 15 January 2012, and the MP's elected from the

Assembly of People of Kazakhstan The Assembly of People of Kazakhstan (; ) is a national political body in Kazakhstan consisting of delegates of the Regional Assemblies of the People. Its task is to represent the various ethnic groups that make up the Central Asian state at nati ...

for January 16. This dissolution of Parliament was marked as the 4th time since Kazakhstan's independence in 1991.

Electoral system

The 98 directly-elected members of the Mazhilis were elected from a single nationwide constituency by

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

with a 7%

. Seats were allocated using the

largest remainder method The largest remainder method (also known as Hare–Niemeyer method, Hamilton method or as Vinton's method) is one way of allocating seats proportionally for representative assemblies with party list voting systems. It contrasts with various h ...

. If parties had an equal largest remainder, the party that was registered first was awarded the seat. If only one party crossed the threshold, the party with the second highest number of votes was to be awarded at least two seats. A further nine seats were elected by the Assembly of People, a body selected by the President.

Results

The nine nominees were: Sauytbek Abdrahmov, Vladimir Bozhko, Natalya Zhumadildayeva, Roman Kim, Narine Mikaelyan, Ahmet Muradov, Shaimardan Nurumov, Yury Tymochenko and Shakir Khakhazov.

Reactions

The opposition claimed there was widespread irregularities and fraud. The OSCE and

US Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other ...

did not recognise the elections as democratic.Kazakh ruling party wins 80.74 per cent in vote: early result

Dawn Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the appearance of indirect sunlight being scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc has reached 18° below the observer's horizo ...

, 16 January 2012 Miklos Haraszti, the head of the OSCE's long-term election-observation mission, criticized what he called a "tightly controlled campaign environment in which the electoral rights of the citizens were seriously limited." "There was limited public debate and the media, the mass media operates in an environment characterized by self-censorship and in which there is no room for editorial independence in the broadcast media." Haraszti said the "results of the election, including the presence of two parties apart from the state party, can be described as an orchestrated election."

References

{{Kazakhstan elections Elections in Kazakhstan

Legislative A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known as p ...

January 2012 events in Asia