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Tokayev announces early presidential, parliamentary elections in Kazakhstan

Moreover, Tokayev considers it necessary to reduce the mandate of presidential term to one, and to increase it from five to seven years

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev Russian Foreign Ministry/TASS

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

© Russian Foreign Ministry/TASS

NUR-SULTAN, September 1. /TASS/. A snap presidential election will be held in Kazakhstan this autumn, whereas early parliamentary voting will take place in the first half of 2023, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said on Thursday.

"I suggest that an early presidential election be held this autumn," he said in an address to the nation. The Kazakh leader also suggested that early elections to the Mazhilis (the lower house of Kazakhstan’s Parliament) and Maslikhats (local representative bodies) be organized in the first half of next year.

Moreover, Tokayev considers it necessary to reduce the mandate of presidential terms to one, and to increase its length from five to seven years. There will be a political reset of all state bodies in the country in the middle of 2023, he noted. "For me the interests of the state come first, which is why I am ready for an early presidential election, even despite a reduction in the term of office," the president explained.

On March 19, 2019 first Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev stepped down as head of state. On the next day former head of the Senate (the upper house of the parliament) of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev took the oath and took up office as president of the country. A snap election was held in the republic on June 9, 2019. Tokayev won with 70.96% of the votes. The presidential election was scheduled to take place once every five years in the country.

In the elections to the Mazhilis (lower house) on January 10, 2021, the Nur Otan ruling party (later renamed Amanat) received 71.09% of the votes, the People's Party of Kazakhstan garnered 9.10%, while the Ak Zhol party (‘Bright Path’) gained 10.95%. The voter turnout amounted to 63.25%. The next parliamentary vote was to be held in 2025.

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