Tokayev dissolves Kazakh lower house, calls elections for March

Astana, Jan 19 (EFE).- Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on Thursday dissolved the Mazhilis (lower house of parliament) and announced early elections for March 19.

“In correspondence with the Constitution, after consultations with the presidents of the chambers of Parliament and the Prime Minister, I signed the decrees for the dissolution of the Mazhilis and the Maslikhats (regional parliaments),” the leader of largest country in Central Asia said in a statement released by Akorda, the president’s office.

“The early elections for the members of the Mazhilis will be held on March 19, 2023,” he said, adding that it will be up to the Central Election Commission to set a date for the maslikhats elections.

Tokayev expressed his confidence that “the election for members will give a new impetus to the total modernization of our country” and defended that the poll responded “to the logic of the constitutional reform supported by the citizens in the national referendum” in June last year.

The head of state pointed out that thanks to the political changes carried out the country assumed “new, fairer and more competitive rules” for electing representatives of the Kazakh authorities.

“The elections for the Mazhilis and Maslikhats will become the culminating stage of the revival of state institutions and will give substance to the formula of a strong president, an influential parliament and a responsible government,” he stressed.

The new parliamentary election rules, Tokayev said, stipulate that 70 % of the representatives of the Lower House are elected by party lists, and the remaining 30 % by districts.

On January 14, Kazakhstan held elections for the senate, composed of 50 senators, half of whom are elected every three years. EFE

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