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Kazakhstan nominates candidates to lower house of parliament

Kazakhstan has declared on Wednesday the beginning of the process to nominate candidates for deputies of the lower house /Mazhilis/ of the national parliament

ASTANA, November 16 (Itar-Tass) —— Kazakhstan has declared on Wednesday the beginning of the process to nominate candidates for deputies of the lower house /Mazhilis/ of the national parliament.

The republic’s president appointed early parliamentary elections for January 15, 2012.

“The right to nominate candidates for deputies of Mazhilis, who are elected according to party lists, belongs to political parties registered accordingly,” Chairman of Kazakhstan’s Central Elections Commission /CEC/ Kuandyk Turgankulov told a meeting of the commission on Wednesday. “A deputy may be a person of at least 25 years old, having Kazakhstan’s citizenship and having lived for the past ten years in the territory of Kazakhstan. Those legally incapable according to court decisions, as well as those imprisoned at court decisions do not have a right to vote or to be elected.”

He said that the nomination of candidates will continue till December 5. The commission will register party lists from November 16 through to December 15. The commission will accredit foreign observers and representatives of international organizations at the presentation from the republic’s foreign ministry till January 10, 2012.

Parallel to elections of deputies of Mazhilis of the parliament, the republic will hold elections of deputies to local legislative bodies /Maslikhats/.

The country’s budget has reserved 8,187 million tenge /over 55 million dollars/ for the elections, Turgankulov said.

According to Kazakhstan’s Constitution, Mazhilis consists of 107 deputies, where 98 are elected by the national voting according to party lists and nine are elected by the Assembly of People of Kazakhstan.

The previous convection of the parliament’s lower house united 98 deputies, who had been elected to Mazhilis according to party lists, and who represented the Nur Otan Party, which won at the elections of August 18, 2007, whereas other parties failed to gain support from at least seven percent voters.

Following the upcoming early parliamentary elections, Mazhilis will not be able to represent one party any more. According to addenda to the national election legislation, if the second party fails to receive support from seven percent voters, it will anyway participate in the distribution of deputy mandates. Presently, the country has ten officially registered parties.

Meanwhile, Kazakhstan’s Communist Party will not be able to participate in the elections, “as its activity was terminated by a court decision,” Turgankulov said.

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