Kazakhstan prepares for early parliamentary elections

/By AzerNews/

By Laman Sadigova

Kazakh parliamentarians at the plenary session on January 13 have approved an appeal to President Nursultan Nazarbayev on holding of early parliamentary elections.

They explained the proposal with “the aggravated economic situation in the country.”

Under the country’s legislation, the president can make a decision on dissolving the Parliament after consultations with the chairs of the both parliamentary chambers and the prime minister. Meanwhile, new elections will be appointed by the head of the state on early termination of the parliament’s powers.

The elections will be held within two months after making the decision. The term of the current parliament is to complete this fall.

“Do not expect significant changes in the Kazakh Parliament in case of early elections,” said researcher at the Center for International Studies in Barcelona (CIDOB), an expert on Central Asia Nicolas de Pedro.

The parliament consists of 107 members, 98 of them were elected at the early elections on January 15, 2012. Then, the Nur Otan Party received 83 mandates, Ak Zhol 8 mandates, the Communist People’s Party of Kazakhstan 7 mandates. Nine more seats were given to delegates from the People’s Assembly of Kazakhstan on January 16, 2012.