At stake in this election:

• 98 seats in the Maijilis

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Nursultan NAZARBAYEV *
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Karim MASIMOV
• Assembly: Kazakhstan has a bicameral Parliament consisting of the Senate with 39 seats and the Maijilis with 107 seats.

* The President is elected to a five-year term with no term limit.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by popular vote to serve a 5-year term.
• The Prime Minister is appointed by parliament.
• In the Senate, 7 members are appointed by the president to serve 6-year terms and 32 members are indirectly elected by regional legislatures*. In the Maijilis, 97 members are elected through a closed-list proportional representation system to serve 5-year terms and 9 members are appointed .**

* seven members are appointed by the president and the remaining 32 members are indirectly elected by oblast-level government bodies. All members serve six-year terms.

** was amended in June 2007 to foster changes to the Majilis. Under the new system, 98 of the 107 deputies will be elected via a proportional, closed list system. The remaining nine deputies will be chosen by the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan, an unelected body containing 364 members formed by the President of Kazakhstan. All members serve five-year terms.

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Party: The National Democratic Party
  • Leader: Bakhytzhan ZHUMAGULOV
  • Seats won in this Maijilis election: 98
  • Seats won in last Maijilis election: 42
• Party: National Social Democratic Party
  • Leader: N/A
  • Seats won in this Maijilis election: 0
  • Seats won in last Maijilis election: 0
• Party: Democratic Party of Kazakhstan
  • Leader: Alikhan BAIMENOV
  • Seats won in this Maijilis election: 0
  • Seats won in last Maijilis election: 1
• Party: Kazakhstan Social and Democratic Party "Auyl"
  • Leader: N/A
  • Seats won in this Maijilis election: 0
  • Seats won in last Maijilis election: 0
• Party: Adilet
  • Leader: Maksut NARIKBAYEV
  • Seats won in this Maijilis election: 0
  • Seats won in last Maijilis election: 0
• Party: Agrarian and Industrial Union of Workers Block "AIST"
  • Leader: N/A
  • Seats won in this Maijilis election: 0
  • Seats won in last Maijilis election: 11
• Party: Asar Party
  • Leader: Dariga NAZARBAYEYA
  • Seats won in this Maijilis election: 0
  • Seats won in last Maijilis election: 4

Last Parliamentary election:

• The last legislative election was held September 19, 2004.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 15,484,192 (2007)
• Registered Voters: 8,891,561 (2007)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 8,036,390 (2007)

·         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: 17 (Assembly) following the 2007 elections; 2 (Senate) following the 2005 elections

·         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: 2,272,054 (est.)