Republic of Kazakhstan: Parliament, 20 March 2016

At stake in this election:

• 98 seats in the Mazhilis (House of Representatives)

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Nursultan Abishuly NAZARBAYEV (since 1 December 1991)
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Karim MASIMOV (since 2 April 2014)
• Assembly: Kazakhstan has a bicameral Parliament consisting of the Senate and the Mazhilis. The Senate is composed of 47 seats and the Mazhilis is composed of 107 seats.

Description of electoral system:

• In the Senate, 32 members are indirectly elected by majority two-round vote by the provincial assemblies and 15 members are appointed by the President. In the Mazhilis, 98 members are directly elected in a single national constituency by proportional representation vote and 9 are indirectly elected by the Assembly of People of Kazakhstan, a 350-member presidentially appointed advisory body.

Last Election:

• Parliamentary elections were last held in Kazakhstan on 15 January 2012. The People’s Democratic Party took 83 seats, while the Democratic Party of Kazakhstan took 8 and the Communist People’s Party of Kazakhstan took 7. 7 parties in total had representatives in the last election, but only the three mentioned above secured enough votes to enter Parliament.

Main parties in the election:

• People’s Democratic Party/Nur Otan
  • Leader: Nursultan NAZARBAYEV
  • Seats won in last election: 83
• Democratic Party of Kazakhstan/Ak Zhol
  • Leader: Azat PERUASHEV
  • Seats won in last election: 8
• Communist People’s Party of Kazakhstan
  • Leader: Vladislav KOSAREV
  • Seats won in last election: 7
• Auyl National Patriotic Party
  • Leader: Ali BEKTAYEV
  • Seats won in last election: N/A
• Birlik (Unity) Party
  • Leader: Seril SULTANGALI
  • Seats won in last election: N/A
• National Social Democratic Party
  • Leader: Zharmakhan TUYAKBAY
  • Seats won in last election: N/A

Population and number of registered voters:

·         Population: 18,157,122 (July 2015 est.)

·         Registered Voters: 9,547,864 (2015)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 9,474,979 (July 2015 est.)

·         Is Kazakhstan a signatory to CEDAW: N/A

·         Has Kazakhstan ratified CEDAW: Yes, accession (26 August 1998)

·         Gender Quota: No

·         Female candidates in this election: Yes

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 32 (23.02%)[1]

·         Human Development Index Position: 56 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Low (2014)

Disability Data:

·         Is Kazakhstan a signatory to CRPD: Yes (11 December 2008)

·         Has Kazakhstan ratified CRPD: Yes (21 April 2015)

·         Population with a disability: 2,723,568