Parliamentary election in Kazakhstan 1994

The 1994 parliamentary election in Kazakhstan was held on March 7, 1994 and was the first parliamentary election in the history of the independent state of Kazakhstan .

Electoral system

Under the Kazakh Constitution of 1993, all 177 seats in the new Kazakh parliament were awarded in the parliamentary elections. 135 MPs were directly elected by the people, the remaining 42 MPs were chosen by President Nursultan Nazarbayev via the so-called state list . With the adoption of the Kazakh Constitution in 1993, there was also a commitment to a multi-party system, as this was enshrined in the constitution. With the participation of several parties, this constitutional requirement was at least formally fulfilled.

background

Until its dissolution, the Supreme Soviet was the legislature in independent Kazakhstan even after the collapse of the Soviet Union . In December 1993, the Supreme Soviet scheduled parliamentary elections for March 7th of the following year and then decided to dissolve itself. The Supreme Soviet with its 360 members was soon to be followed by the new parliament with 177 members. In the transition phase between the self-dissolution of the Supreme Soviet and the first session of the new parliament, President Nazarbayev was given additional powers to ensure that Kazakhstan was able to act.

Parties and candidates

754 candidates were registered by the electoral authorities for the 135 seats in the Kazakh parliament, which were awarded through the elections of the citizens. 65 candidates applied for the 42 seats awarded by the President's decision. President Nazarbayev's party, the Union of National Unity, which later became what is now the ruling party Nur Otan , was supported by most of the other parties, so that Nazarbayev's course found a lot of support from the candidates outside his party. The most important opposition party was the People's Congress of Kazakhstan, which spoke out against the president's course. At the center of the election campaign , which lasted around two months , were economic issues and the question of further liberalization and opening of Kazakhstan. Relations with Russia were also part of the political conflict.

Result

President Nazarbayev's party became the strongest force in parliament with 33 seats, but was far from having an absolute majority. Since most of the other parties also had to be classified as loyal to the president, there was a clear majority in parliament in favor of Nazarbayev, who could therefore count on parliamentary support for his plans. According to official figures, voter turnout was 73.52%.

Political party	Seats
Union of national unity	33
Federation of trade unions	11
People's Congress of Kazakhstan	9
Socialist Party of Kazakhstan	8th
Peasant union	4th
Movement Lad	4th
other parties	7th
Independent	59
total	135
State list	42
total	177

consequences

The legislative period of the new parliament only lasts about a year, since the Constitutional Court of Kazakhstan declared the 1994 election invalid in the spring of 1995 and declared the parliament that was formed as illegal. President Nazarbayev then dissolved parliament and ruled by decree without parliamentary control . After the adoption of a new constitution in 1995, elections were held on December 9, 1995 for a downsized parliament in a bicameral system .

rating

The election was monitored by observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe . The observer mission praised the first steps towards democratization in Kazakhstan and the preservation of freedom of expression, including for opposition parties, which enabled political competition before the election. Due to deficiencies in the electoral system and the conduct of the election, the observers concluded, despite this progress, that the election did not meet democratic standards. In particular, the issuing of mandates by the president via the state list was criticized by the observers.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} KAZAKHSTAN: parliamentary elections Supreme Kenges, 1994. Retrieved April 24, 2020 . 
2. ↑ KAZAKHSTAN. Retrieved April 24, 2020 . 
3. ↑ KAZAKHSTAN: parliamentary elections Mazhilis, 1995. Accessed April 24, 2020 . 
4. ↑ OSCE (ed.): REPORT ON THE ELECTIONS IN KAZAKSTAN . 1st edition. 1994, p. 6 .