Kazakhstan Holds Parliamentary Election Expected to Consolidate President Tokayev’s Power

TALLINN, Estonia — Polls opened Sunday in Kazakhstan’s parliamentary elections, a vote expected to further strengthen President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s authority in Central Asia’s largest nation.

The ruling pro-presidential Adilet party is widely predicted to secure an overwhelming majority, alongside several smaller parties loyal to President Tokayev that are also expected to gain representation in the parliament.

Tokayev, 73, a former Soviet official and Kazakh diplomat who previously served at the United Nations, has led the country since 2019.

This election marks the country’s first vote for the new single-chamber parliament, known as the Kurultai.

Sunday’s vote represents the culmination of a constitutional overhaul initiated by Tokayev in March, which was approved by 87% of voters in a referendum. The reforms merged the two chambers of parliament into a single body and granted the president the authority to appoint key officials, subject to parliamentary approval, including the reinstatement of the vice presidency.

Tokayev, who has strived to maintain a delicate balance between Moscow and the West since sanctions were imposed on Russia over the war in Ukraine, has justified these changes by emphasizing the need for rapid decision-making in a rapidly evolving global landscape.

Last month, Kazakhstan’s Constitutional Court ruled that the constitutional amendments effectively reset the clock on Tokayev’s previous terms in office, paving the way for him to run for another seven-year presidential term.

The election takes place at a challenging economic juncture for Kazakhstan, with inflation reaching 10.2% in February and tax increases having fueled public discontent.

Analysts note that this economic strain has made authorities highly cautious of a repeat of the January 2022 unrest, when fuel price protests escalated into deadly violence claiming the lives of dozens of protesters and police officers—a scenario Tokayev is attempting to prevent by centralizing power.

Tokayev described the vote as a “truly historic event.”

“Without a doubt, these elections will be remembered as perhaps the most significant in our country’s history,” Tokayev said on Friday. “Amid unprecedented geopolitical tensions and mounting global challenges, we must firmly and consistently implement our strategy to transform Kazakhstan into a truly developed state.”

The vote is also occurring against a backdrop of intensifying crackdowns on press freedom. Media organizations have urged Tokayev to drop criminal charges against several journalists currently under house arrest and to revise national legislation to ensure press freedom. Authorities have opened approximately 10 criminal cases against independent journalists and popular bloggers.

The most recent case involves Lukpan Akhmedyarov, an independent journalist who hosts the YouTube project “Prosto Zhurnalistika” (Simply Journalism). He informed The Associated Press that a criminal case was filed against him in August on charges of “disseminating false information” after he published a list of Kazakhstani citizens fighting in Ukraine. He faces a potential sentence of up to seven years in prison.

“In the run-up to these parliamentary elections, repression has intensified sharply, with attacks on independent media, cyberattacks, and criminal cases launched against independent journalists and popular bloggers,” Akhmedyarov told the AP from Almaty. “It feels like the authorities want to silence all media outlets they don’t control — everyone they couldn’t reach an agreement with or couldn’t buy off.”

Akhmedyarov noted that the streets of Kazakhstan’s major cities are “flooded with advertisements and posters for the pro-presidential Adilet party.”

“It is not very difficult to predict the outcome of these elections,” he concluded.

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