PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS BY PARTY LISTS IN KAZAKHSTAN IN 1999-2016: AN ANALYSIS
Abstract
In 2017, the President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbaev, who has remained at the helm of power for twenty-five-odd years of the republic’s independence, has initiated the next, fourth batch of constitutional amendments. Very much like the amendments of 1998, 2007, and 2011, these amendments are presented to the nation as another step toward further democratization of the political system of Kazakhstan. The three previous initiatives consolidated presidential power; this time, according to the preliminary statement, about forty, mainly social and economic, functions of the president will be redistributed between the Government and the Parliament. Thus, in the period of economic crisis and uncertainty, the President will be absolved of the responsibility for possible errors and failures of the country’s economic policy. On the other hand, these amendments expand the points related to the immunity of private property (one of the weakest points in the legal system and political construct of Kazakhstan). This probably means that the elite groups will have to learn the rules of the game and operate within certain limits, while the amendments can be interpreted as a step toward the transfer of supreme power. In this article, we have analyzed the history of the parliamentary elections by party lists, since redistribution of authority between the branches of power will widen the possibilities of the Legislative Assembly of Kazakhstan.
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Here and elsewhere of¿cial data of the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan and open sources of the Internet, related to the parliamentary elections, are given; information is limited to the shares of the votes cast in percent,the number of votes cast for this or that party is not taken into account.
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