Only state-approved parties loyal to President Tokayev permitted to take part amid a sweeping constitutional overhaul.
Published On 23 Aug 202623 Aug 2026
Voters are heading to the polls in Kazakhstan’s snap parliamentary election, which critics say will strengthen the power of the president.
Polling stations opened at 7am local time (02:00 GMT) and are scheduled to close at 8pm (15:00 GMT). More than 12 million of Kazakhstan’s 20 million people are eligible to vote.
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The election will usher in a new 145-member unicameral legislature that is expected to be dominated by supporters of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, who has led the Central Asian country since 2019.
Constitutional overhauls earlier this year abolished Kazakhstan’s upper house in favour of a one-body parliament. Officials claim the change will give parliament more weight in political decision-making, having previously been confined to a mostly auxiliary role.
However, only seven state-approved parties, all loyal to Tokayev, have been allowed to put forth candidates.
The constitutional changes also reset term limits to allow Tokayev to run again in 2029.
The 73-year-old was the chosen successor of longtime leader Nursultan Nazarbayev, who ruled for almost 30 years from the 1990s. But he broke with his predecessor amid cost-of-living protests in 2022 that led to the deaths of 238 people, and has since touted a reform agenda called “Just Kazakhstan”.
A former Soviet state, Kazakhstan balances relations with China, Europe and Russia, with Tokayev navigating recent tensions over Moscow’s war with Ukraine.
Kazakhstan is oil-rich and makes up about 2 percent of daily world supply, mostly exporting to European countries through the Caspian Pipeline Consortium to Russia’s port of Novorossiysk.
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Trump: US president’s comments on a united Ireland may have targeted an audience across the Atlantic
Giving an answer to a question that is asked at a free-flowing press conference is one thing, but Donald Trump repeated his sentiments a short time later when he was delivering a speech to an invited audience at the US Ambassador’s residence.
In fact it was almost the first thing he mentioned, hinting that maybe he realised he had kicked over a can of worms at his earlier appearance.
The rest of that speech was curious. It was billed as a 20-minute address to Irish and Irish American business leaders, but was about twice that and strayed largely into domestic US matters.
President Trump has a speaking style that he describes himself as “the weave”.
He can bounce from topic to topic during any speaking engagement, veering off the script and then returning to the matter at hand.
Today he lauded his own achievements, as he sees them, such as clamping down on illegal immigration, doing deals and boosting defence production.
He repeated his criticisms once again of what he views as the UK’s lack of support for his military operation in Iran.
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Kazakhstan holds parliamentary election expected to cement president’s grip | Elections News
Only state-approved parties loyal to President Tokayev permitted to take part amid a sweeping constitutional overhaul.
Published On 23 Aug 202623 Aug 2026
Voters are heading to the polls in Kazakhstan’s snap parliamentary election, which critics say will strengthen the power of the president.
Polling stations opened at 7am local time (02:00 GMT) and are scheduled to close at 8pm (15:00 GMT). More than 12 million of Kazakhstan’s 20 million people are eligible to vote.
Recommended Stories
list of 4 itemsend of list
The election will usher in a new 145-member unicameral legislature that is expected to be dominated by supporters of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, who has led the Central Asian country since 2019.
Constitutional overhauls earlier this year abolished Kazakhstan’s upper house in favour of a one-body parliament. Officials claim the change will give parliament more weight in political decision-making, having previously been confined to a mostly auxiliary role.
However, only seven state-approved parties, all loyal to Tokayev, have been allowed to put forth candidates.
The constitutional changes also reset term limits to allow Tokayev to run again in 2029.
The 73-year-old was the chosen successor of longtime leader Nursultan Nazarbayev, who ruled for almost 30 years from the 1990s. But he broke with his predecessor amid cost-of-living protests in 2022 that led to the deaths of 238 people, and has since touted a reform agenda called “Just Kazakhstan”.
A former Soviet state, Kazakhstan balances relations with China, Europe and Russia, with Tokayev navigating recent tensions over Moscow’s war with Ukraine.
Kazakhstan is oil-rich and makes up about 2 percent of daily world supply, mostly exporting to European countries through the Caspian Pipeline Consortium to Russia’s port of Novorossiysk.
Source link