General election in Kazakhstan 1999

Communist Party of Kazakhstan : 3 seats

Federation of Trade Unions of Kazakhstan: 11 seats

Otan: 23 seats

Volksgenossenschaftliche Party: 1 seat

Independent: 23 seats

Citizens' party: 13 seats

Agricultural Party: 3 seats

The 1999 parliamentary elections in Kazakhstan were held on October 10, 1999 with a run-off election on October 24, 1999 in the Republic of Kazakhstan . The 77 members of the Mäschilis , the lower house of the Kazakh parliament, were elected.

Electoral system

In the run-up to the 1999 parliamentary elections, the electoral system was changed significantly compared to the 1995 parliamentary elections in Kazakhstan . The number of MPs was increased from 67 to 77 and a combination of majority and proportional representation was introduced. In addition, 67 members of parliament were elected in a majority vote in 67 constituencies across the country . A candidate needed an absolute majority of the votes cast in order to enter parliament. If none of the candidates in a constituency succeeded in doing this, a runoff election was held two weeks after the first ballot between the two most successful candidates in the first ballot. In 1999, ten additional mandates were awarded for the first time on the principle of proportional representation. For this purpose, the registered parties drew up an electoral list , from which a certain number of candidates entered parliament depending on the party's nationwide share of the vote. There was a 7 percent hurdle for awarding mandates after the proportional representation. A financial challenge for many candidates was the deposit of a relatively high fee that had to be paid to the Central Election Commission for the nomination of each candidate. This fee was repaid if the party on whose list the candidate was on won more than 7% of the vote and was thus allowed to send candidates to parliament via the party list. The high fee in combination with the relatively high threshold clause represented a significant obstacle for smaller parties and their candidates. Candidates for proportional representation could only be registered via the registered political parties, but independent candidates for one could also be in the individual electoral districts Run for seat in the House of Commons. On election day, each voter received two voting sheets, one for the election of the representative in the respective constituency and a second for the election of a party list.

Parties and candidates

The political landscape in Kazakhstan was subject to profound changes in the years and months before the election. Due to their short existence, most parties did not have a large political base in the country and only had limited financial and human resources. The most important factor for the outcome of the election in the individual constituencies was the popularity of the candidates, rather than their party affiliation. In order to strengthen the role of the parties in Kazakhstan, proportional representation had already been introduced in order to place the parties more at the center of the voting decision. A diverse field of applicants formed before the election. 547 candidates ran for a seat in parliament in the 67 electoral districts, which corresponds to an average of eight candidates per constituency. The situation differed from region to region, with only two candidates in some constituencies and 16 candidates in others. Of the 547 candidates, only 113 were nominated by political parties; the other candidates ran as independents.

With regard to the political parties, a tripartite division can be made into the pro-presidential parties, the constructive opposition parties and the strictly opposition parties. One of the parties that openly and unequivocally supported President Nursultan Nazarbayev was the Otan Party, which was formed before the election from existing political parties and movements around the president and had a comparatively broad political base among the population. In addition, the Citizens' Party, the Agrarian Party and the Party of the Kazakh Revival belonged to this group. The constructive opposition that sought to reform the existing system under President Nazarbayev was formed in particular by the Azamat Democratic Party. In addition, the Congress Party, the Labor Party and the Alash Party sought to reform the system. The Communist Party of Kazakhstan and the Republican People's Party stood for a general rejection of the existing political system. Both parties competed separately, but cooperated through the republican bloc, which was formed by several organizations critical of the regime.

Election campaign

The election campaign was particularly visible in the country's largest cities , especially Almaty . Outside the cities, the election received little attention from large sections of the population. In addition, the election campaign was marked by great distrust of the political system and political parties in Kazakhstan. This was shown, among other things, in numerous controversies about irregularities in the financing of the election campaign and the influence of local officials on the election campaign and the result of the election. Parties critical of the regime have also accused the pro-presidential parties of being supported by state funds. Even before election day, the allegation of election fraud was raised, as the neutrality of the authorities was called into question. The media reported extensively on the election and the election campaign, but many media submitted to voluntary self-censorship in order to avoid conflicts with the authorities. An innovation in the election campaign before the 1999 parliamentary elections was the broadcast of a 2.5-hour live television debate, during which viewers could also ask the representatives of the registered parties. This innovation was largely received positively and also praised by the opposition.

Result

The final result of the election was announced by the Central Election Commission after a controversial and numerous irregularities process for counting the votes. This resulted in the following composition of the Mäschilis:

Political party	Majority seats	Proportional representation	Total seats
Otan	19th	4th	23
Citizens Party	11	2	13
Trade Union Federation of Kazakhstan	11	0	11
Communist Party of Kazakhstan	1	2	3
Agrarian Party	1	2	3
People's Cooperative Party	1	0	1
Independent	23	0	23
total	67	10	77

The new Prime Minister Qassym-Shomart Toqayev

This result secured the support for the president's course in parliament, since in addition to the pro-presidential parties Otan, the Citizens' Party and the Agrarian Party, the majority of the independent candidates and members of the trade unions were also considered supporters of Nursultan Nazarbayev . Eight female MPs were represented in the newly elected parliament, 18 MPs from the previous legislative period were able to defend their mandate, and 19 MPs belonged to the Russian minority in Kazakhstan. On October 12, 1999, Qassym-Shomart Toqayev was elected the new Prime Minister by parliament.

rating

The election was accompanied by numerous domestic and foreign observers. The observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) praised individual improvements in the legal and organizational framework, but overall came to the conclusion that the election had clearly fallen short of democratic standards. Among other things, the lack of transparency and the numerous irregularities in the implementation of the election and in particular in the counting of votes led to this assessment. The OSCE observers also criticized the influence exercised by authorities and local officials in favor of parties loyal to the regime. The non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch criticized numerous human rights violations in the run-up to the field. These included the arrest of opposition activists and the restriction of freedom of expression . The organization drew attention to the situation of the media in Kazakhstan, which was either directly controlled by the state or put under heavy pressure by its authorities and thus driven to self-censorship. The opposition in Kazakhstan has voiced allegations of massive election fraud .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ OSCE (ed.): PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS 10 and 24 OCTOBER 1999 FINAL REPORT . 1st edition. Warsaw January 20, 2000, p. 4-6 .
2. ↑ OSCE (ed.): PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS 10 and 24 OCTOBER 1999 FINAL REPORT . 1st edition. Warsaw January 20, 2000, p. 8-9 .
3. ^ Central Asia-Caucasus Institute and Silk Road Studies Program .: Parliament and political parties in Kazakhstan . Central Asia-Caucasus Institute & Silk Road Studies Program, Washington, DC 2008, ISBN 978-91-85937-27-1 , pp. 20-34 .
4. ↑ Kazakh Report: May 18, 1999. Retrieved May 30, 2020 (English). 
5. ↑ OSCE (ed.): PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS 10 and 24 OCTOBER 1999 FINAL REPORT . 1st edition. Warsaw January 20, 2000, p. 12-14 .
6. ↑ Nohlen, Dieter., Grotz, Florian., Hartmann, Christof .: Elections in Asia and the Pacific: a data handbook . Oxford University Press, Oxford 2001, ISBN 0-19-924958-X , pp. 420 .
7. ↑ OSCE (ed.): PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS 10 and 24 OCTOBER 1999 FINAL REPORT . 1st edition. Warsaw January 20, 2000, p. 28 .
8. ↑ OSCE (ed.): PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS 10 and 24 OCTOBER 1999 FINAL REPORT . 1st edition. Warsaw January 20, 2000, p. 2-3 .
9. ↑ Human Rights Watch: Refworld | Kazakhstan: Freedom of the Media and Political Freedoms in the Prelude to the 1999 Elections. Retrieved May 30, 2020 (English). 
10. ↑ 61. Kazakhstan (1991 - present). Retrieved May 30, 2020 (American English).