Parliamentary vote in Kazakhstan — Adilet poised for large victory

Polling stations opened across Kazakhstan today for parliamentary elections that observers and domestic officials say are likely to further consolidate the power of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

The pro-presidential party Adilet is forecast to win a large majority, while several smaller parties loyal to Tokayev are also expected to enter the new legislature.

Constitutional overhaul and the new Kurultai

These are the first elections for the country’s new, unicameral parliament called the Kurultai, the result of a constitutional reform process President Tokayev launched in March. In that referendum, 87% of voters backed merging the two houses into one and giving the president the authority to appoint key officials — subject to parliamentary approval — including the restoration of the vice-president post.

Tokayev, 73, a former Soviet official and Kazakh diplomat who previously worked at the United Nations, has been in office since 2019. He has defended the constitutional changes as necessary to speed decision-making in a fast-changing world and as a way to balance relations between Moscow and the West after sanctions were imposed on Russia over the war in Ukraine.

Last month, the Constitutional Court of Kazakhstan ruled that the amendments effectively reset the clock on Tokayev’s previous terms, clearing the way for him to stand for another seven-year term.

Photo: press material from the event