2007 Kazakh legislative election
18 August 2007
98 of the 107 seats in the Mäjilis
54 seats needed for a majority
Registered8,891,561
Turnout68.4% (Decrease 11.9pp)
  Majority party Minority party
 
Leader Nursultan Nazarbayev Alikhan Baimenov
Party Nur Otan Aq Jol
Leader since 1 March 1999 13 March 2005
Last election 57 seats[lower-alpha 1] 1 seat
Seats won 98 0
Seat change Increase41 Decrease1
Popular vote 5,247,720 183,346
Percentage 88.4% 3.1%
Chairman before election

Oral Muhamedjanov
Nur Otan

 Elected Chairman

Aslan Musin
Nur Otan

Legislative elections were held in Kazakhstan on 18 August 2007 to elected. President Nursultan Nazarbayev's ruling Nur Otan party received 88% of the vote and won all of the available seats (excluding the reserved 9-seat quota for the Assembly of People of Kazakhstan), as none of the six other parties contesting the election had managed to pass the 7% electoral threshold to win seats.[1][2]

Background

On 19 June 2007 50 of the 77 deputies of the Mäjilis voted to request President Nursultan Nazarbayev for the legislature to be dissolved after a ruling by the Constitutional Council from 18 June that the Mäjilis can dissolve itself only with the permission of the president despite the Kazakh Constitution allowing the parliament to do so in a motion of no confidence. Nazarbayev accepted the request that same day and the Mäjilis was officially dissolved on 20 June. The move was criticized by several prominent opposition activists such as the chairman of Nationwide Social Democratic Party, Zharmakhan Tuyakbay, who claimed that the a snap election gave little time to prepare for the polling day.[3]

Electoral system

A total of 107 seats were at stake in the Majilis, an increase of 30, following constitutional amendments earlier in the year.[4] Under the changes, 98 deputies were elected by party lists, an increase from just 10 in the previous parliament. The remaining nine seats were reserved for members elected by the Assembly of People of Kazakhstan.[5]

Conduct

The opposition Nationwide Social Democratic Party, which received almost 5% of the vote, denounced the election,[1] and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe observers said the election showed some progress, but was also marred by problems, saying that "in over 40 percent of the polling stations visited, [vote counting] was described as bad or very bad", which was worse than in the last parliamentary and presidential elections.[1] Bias in the state media was also considered a problem.

Results

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Nur Otan5,247,72088.4198+41[lower-alpha 2]
Nationwide Social Democratic Party269,3104.540New
Aq Jol183,3463.090–1
Auyl Kazakh Social Democratic Party89,8551.5100
Communist People's Party76,7991.2900
Party of Patriots46,4360.7800
Rukhaniyat Party22,1590.3700
Members elected by the Assembly of People9New
Total5,935,625100.00107+30
Valid votes5,935,62597.59
Invalid/blank votes146,8052.41
Total votes6,082,430100.00
Registered voters/turnout8,891,56168.41
Source: Adam Carr, IPU

Notes

  1. ↑ In the 2004 elections, Otan won 42 seats, an alliance of the Agrarian Party and Civic Party won 11 seats and Asar won four seats. The parties merged to form Nur Otan in 2006.
  2. ↑ In the 2004 elections, Otan won 42 seats, an alliance of the Agrarian Party and Civic Party won 11 seats and Asar won four seats. The parties merged to form Nur Otan in 2006.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Party of Kazakh President Sweeps Seats in Parliament The New York Times, 20 August 2007
  2. ↑ Kazakh poll gives all seats to Nazarbayev Archived 2007-09-30 at the Wayback Machine Reuters, 20 August 2007
  3. ↑ "Kazakh President Dissolves Parliament". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. Retrieved 2020-05-01.
  4. ↑ Kazakhstan set to hold early poll BBC News, 20 June 2007
  5. ↑ Kazakhstan's political parties gear up for early elections Archived 2014-03-04 at the Wayback Machine EurasiaNet, 20 June 2007
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