Elections to the

Almaty City Mäslihat The Almaty City Mäslihat (, ; ) is a local unicameral legislative branch in the city of Almaty. It is led by the current secretary, Meyirjan Otynşiev ( Amanat). Composition The City Mäslihat is composed of 42 deputies, half of which are ele ...

were held on 19 March 2023 to elect 42 deputies to the 8th convocation of the Almaty City Mäslihat. It coincided with the 2023 local elections. For the first time, a

mixed electoral system A mixed electoral system is one that uses different Electoral system, electoral systems to elect different seats in a legislature. Most often, this involves a First Past the Post combined with a Proportional representation, proportional component ...

was used, with half of the seats filled through

single-member district A single-member district or constituency is an electoral district represented by a single officeholder. It contrasts with a multi-member district, which is represented by multiple officeholders. In some countries, such as Australia and India ...

s and the other half through

party-list proportional representation Party-list proportional representation (list-PR) is a system of proportional representation based on preregistered Political party, political parties, with each party being Apportionment (politics), allocated a certain number of seats Apportionm ...

. In the party-list contest, the ruling Amanat party secured a majority, winning 12 out of 21 seats. The party also dominated the constituency seats, further consolidating its majority control. Notably, independents were elected for the first time since

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

, following the restoration of the mixed electoral system in the 2022 referendum. Other parties that gained representation, listed in descending order of seats, include

Respublica ResPublica (from the Latin phrase, ''res publica'', meaning 'public thing' or 'commonwealth') is a British independent public policy think tank, founded in 2009, by Phillip Blond. It describes itself as a multi-disciplinary, non-party politi ...

, the People's Party, Baytaq, and Aq Jol.

Background

As a result of the 2021 Almaty City Mäslihat election, the ruling

Nur Otan Amanat (; ; officially stylized in all caps), previously known as Nur Otan (; ), is a Ruling party, ruling List of political parties in Kazakhstan, political party of Kazakhstan and the largest political association in the country, with around 8 ...

(now known as Amanat) got the majority of seats in the Mäslihat. From there, Stanislav Kankurov, the first deputy chairman of the Nur Otan party in

Almaty Almaty, formerly Alma-Ata, is the List of most populous cities in Kazakhstan, largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population exceeding two million residents within its metropolitan area. Located in the foothills of the Trans-Ili Alatau mountains ...

, was subsequently elected as the mäslihat's new secretary for the first time since 2014 during its opening session of the 7th convocation. Before this election, the deputies used to be directly-elected through

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...

for a five-year term, with a 7%

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

. In the aftermath of the

2022 Kazakh unrest The 2022 Kazakh unrest, also known as January Events, Bloody January, or the January Tragedy, was a series of Political demonstration, mass protests and Civil disorder, civil unrest that began in Kazakhstan on 2 January 2022 after a sudden ...

, President

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev Kassym-Jomart Kemeluly Tokayev (born 17 May 1953) is a Kazakhstani politician and diplomat who has served as the second president of Kazakhstan since 2019. He previously served as Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, Prime Minister from 1999 to 2002 ...

in his March 2022 State of the Nation Address unveiled a series of reforms, including the changing of the electoral system of all mäslihats into a mixed one. Following a

constitutional referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a direct vote by the electorate (rather than their representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either binding (resulting in the adoption of a new policy) or advis ...

in a September 2022 State of the Nation Address, Tokayev announced a snap local elections for mäslihat deputies to take place in the first half of 2023 in parr with the Mäjilis election.

Electoral system

Since Tokayev's March 2022 Presidential Address to the Nation, the members are elected through a

, in which half of the seats are elected from

s and

, respectively.

Parties

Six parties submitted their party lists to the Territorial Electoral Commission of Almaty, and they were registered on 18 February 2023.

Results

References

{{Kazakhstan elections Elections in Almaty 2023 elections in Kazakhstan March 2023 in Kazakhstan

Background

Electoral system

Parties

Results

See also

References