| Parliament name (generic / translated) |
Parlament / Parliament |
| Structure of parliament |
Bicameral |
| Chamber name (generic / translated) |
Mazhilis / House of Representatives |
| Related chamber (for bicameral parliaments) |
Senate
|
| BACKGROUND |
| Dates of election / renewal (from/to) |
18 August 2007 |
| Purpose of elections |
Elections were held for all the seats in the House of Representatives following premature dissolution of this body on 20 June 2007. Elections to the House of Representatives had previously taken place on 19 September 2004. |
President Nazarbayev dissolved the House of Representatives on 20 June and called elections for 19 August
more than two years before the official due date
in order to implement the May 2007 constitutional amendments concerning the parliament.
These constitutional amendments increased the statutory number of members of the House of Representatives from 77 to 107
and of the Senate from 39 to 47. They introduced a pure proportional representation system using political party lists
which in effect prevents independent candidates from running in elections. A 7 per cent threshold was set for parties to gain representation in parliament. Furthermore
under the new electoral law
members of parliament must resign if they switch political alliances during the legislature. A limit of two consecutive terms was set for the President
though this measure will not apply to the incumbent President Nursultan Nazarbayev.
In the previous elections held in 2004
only one opposition candidate
Mr. Alikhan Baimenov
leader of the Ak Zhol (Democratic Party) was elected. He refused to participate in the legislature until 2006 in protest over the election process. However
Mr. Baimenov subsequently declared that he would cooperate with the ruling Republican Party Otan (Fatherland).
In July 2006
the Republican Party Otan (which won 42 seats in the 2004 elections) merged with the Asar Party (four seats)
led by President Nazarbayev's daughter
Ms. Dariga Nazarbayeva
and became the Otan Party. It re-named itself the National Democratic Party "Nur Otan" in early 2007. It was led by President Nazarbayev.
On 11 June 2007
two opposition parties
Naghyz Ak Zhol and the Social Democratic Party announced their merger under the name "All National Social Democratic Party" (ANSDP). However
on 18 June
parliament approved amendments barring parties from forming electoral blocs. The two parties consequently fielded their candidates separately.
In all
377 candidates (including 56 women) from seven political parties contested the 2007 elections. Media speculation focused on whether the opposition parties would gain any seats under the new electoral system.
Nur Otan promised political and ethnic stability and further economic growth. Naghyz Ak Zhol and the Social Democratic Party appealed to the country's new poor
who they argued had not benefited from recent reforms. They pledged better distribution of oil dividends and to promote the State language (Kazakh).
Over 68.41 per cent of the 5.7 million registered voters turned out at the polls which were monitored by over 500 international observers
including 400 from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). The OSCE noted irregularities in vote counting in over 40 percent of the polling stations. It said not all OSCE requirements were met. The OSCE also expressed concern over the seven per cent threshold. An observer mission from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) said the elections were "free and transparent".
The final results gave Nur Otan over 88 per cent of votes
while no opposition parties surpassed the seven per cent threshold. Nur Otan thus took all the 98 directly-elected seats.
Naghyz Ak Zhol and the Social Democratic Party
which took respectively 3.27 and 4.62 per cent of the votes
condemned the election results
insisting they had been manipulated.
Another nine members of the House of Representatives were elected from the Assembly of nations
a body appointed by the President comprising the various ethnic groups in Kazakhstan
from 15 to 18 August.
On 2 September 2007
the 98 directly-elected members and the nine indirectly-elected members of the House were officially sworn in. They elected Mr. Aslan Mussin (Nur Otan) as the new Speaker.
|
| STATISTICS |
| Voter turnout |
| Round no 1 | 18 August 2007 |
Number of registered electors
Voters
Blank or invalid ballot papers
Valid votes |
8'891'561
6'082'430 (68.41%)
|
|
Notes
|
|
| Distribution of votes |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Candidates |
Votes |
|
|
% |
|
|
| National Democratic Party "Nur Otan" |
127 |
5'247'720 |
|
|
88.41 |
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Total
|
|
|
|
|
| National Democratic Party "Nur Otan" |
98
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to sex |
Men
Women
Percent of women |
90
17
15.89%
|
| Distribution of seats according to age |
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to profession |
|
|
| Comments |
Note on the number of women
Fifteen women were directly elected while two others were indirectly elected
Sources:
- http://election.kz/portal/page?_pageid=153
1&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL
- House of Representatives (29.08.2007
01.01.2010) |
Compare data for parliamentary chambers in the Last elections module
