Presidential election in Kazakhstan 1999

The presidential election in Kazakhstan took place on January 10, 1999. It was the second election of the Kazakh president since the country gained independence. The incumbent Nursultan Nazarbayev emerged victorious from the election .

background

The 1999 presidential election was the second election of the Kazakh president since the country's independence, as Nazarbayev extended his term as president to 2000 in an April 1995 referendum. A constitutional amendment also strengthened its position in the state. It was also the first presidential election in Kazakhstan in which there were multiple candidates to choose from, as the last election in 1991 only had the option of voting for or against Nazarbayev. On September 30, 1998, Nazarbayev delivered a speech to the nation on the economy and democratization, in which he called for the country to promote and support democracy and human rights. Just a week later on October 7th, both houses of parliament passed a series of constitutional amendments, and the following day they called an early presidential election on January 10th, 1999.

The changes to the Kazakh constitution , in which a total of 19 changes were made, also had an impact on the presidential election. The changes included an extension of the term of office from five to seven years, the abolition of the age limit of 65 years and the abolition of the minimum voter turnout of 50 percent for a valid election. In addition, the possibility was created to call an early presidential election if the President and a majority of the two chambers of parliament agree. Changes were also made to the electoral law. These controversial changes were designed to prevent corrupt individuals from running. For example, persons who were legally convicted of corruption by a court or an administrative sanction imposed by a court within a year before the date of the election were excluded from registration. This also affected people against whom pending legal proceedings had not yet been concluded at the time of registration.

Candidates

Originally eight candidates began the registration process for the election, of which two candidates voluntarily withdrew their candidacy. Changes to the electoral law in May 1998 banned anyone convicted of a deliberate crime in court in the year prior to an election from participating in a Kazakh election. This prevented two potential candidates from attending, including former Prime Minister Akeschan Kaschegeldin , who had been convicted of attending a meeting of an unregistered non-governmental organization .

Ultimately, the Kazakh Electoral Commission approved four candidates for election. These were the previous incumbent Nursultan Nazarbayev , Serikbolsyn Äbdildin ( Communist Party of Kazakhstan ), Ghani Qassymow (independent) and Engels Gabbasow ( People's Union of Kazakhstan ).

Result

Result:

candidate	Political party	be right	proportion of
Nursultan Nazarbayev	independently	5,846,817	80.97%
Serikbolsyn abdildin	Communist Party of Kazakhstan	857.386	11.87%
Ghani Qassymov	independently	337.794	4.68%
Engels Gabbasov	People's Union of Kazakhstan	55,708	0.77%
Not a candidate		123,703	1.71%
Invalid		107,562
Total (turnout 85.8%)		7,328,970	100.00%

Web links

• Central Election Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan (English, Kazakh and Russian)
• The Republic of Kazakhstan. Presidential Election. 10 January 1999. (PDF) OSCE , February 5, 1999, accessed June 11, 2017 . 

Individual evidence

1. ↑ OSCE: Presidential Election, January 10, 1999. Final Report , accessed June 11, 2017 (PDF).
2. ^ The New York Times: Kazakhstan's Empty Election , accessed June 11, 2017.
3. ^ ElectionGuide: Republic of Kazakhstan: Election for President, Jan. 10, 1999 , accessed June 10, 2017.