{"id":4337,"date":"2026-08-23T12:36:35","date_gmt":"2026-08-23T12:36:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/?p=4337"},"modified":"2026-08-23T12:36:35","modified_gmt":"2026-08-23T12:36:35","slug":"kazakhstan-votes-in-a-parliamentary-election-expected-to-strengthen-presidents-grip-on-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/?p=4337","title":{"rendered":"Kazakhstan votes in a parliamentary election expected to strengthen president\u2019s grip on power"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Kazakhstan was voting Sunday in a parliamentary election that is expected to further strengthen President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev\u2019s grip on power in Central Asia\u2019s largest nation.<\/p>\n

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The pro-presidential Adilet party is widely predicted to win an overwhelming majority, with several smaller parties loyal to Tokayev also anticipated to enter parliament. The vote is the country\u2019s first election to a new, single-chamber parliament called the Kurultai.<\/p>\n

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The 73-year-old Tokayev, a former Soviet official and Kazakh diplomat who previously worked at the United Nations, has been in office since 2019.<\/p>\n

Sunday\u2019s vote is the culmination of a constitutional overhaul that Tokayev initiated in March, when 87% of voters supported a referendum to merge the two chambers of parliament into one and grant the president authority to appoint key officials, subject to parliamentary approval, including reestablishing the vice presidency.<\/p>\n

Tokayev, who has sought to maintain a delicate balance between Moscow and the West since sanctions were imposed on Russia over the war in Ukraine, has justified the changes by citing the need for rapid decision-making in a fast-changing world.<\/p>\n

Last month, Kazakhstan\u2019s Constitutional Court ruled that the amendments effectively reset the clock on Tokayev\u2019s previous terms in office, opening the door for him to run for another seven-year term.<\/p>\n

The election comes at a difficult economic moment for Kazakhstan: inflation hit 10.2% in February, and tax hikes have fueled public discontent.<\/p>\n

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Analysts say the economic strain has made authorities wary of a repeat of the unrest of January 2022, when fuel price protests spiraled into violence that left dozens of protesters and police officers dead \u2014 a scenario Tokayev is seeking to guard against by concentrating power in his own hands.<\/p>\n

Tokayev said that the vote promises to be a \u201ctruly historic event.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout a doubt, these elections will be remembered as perhaps the most interesting in our country\u2019s history,\u201d Tokayev said on Friday. \u201cAmid unprecedented geopolitical tensions and mounting global challenges, we must firmly and consistently implement our strategy to transform Kazakhstan into a truly developed state.\u201d<\/p>\n

The vote is also taking place against a backdrop of intensifying crackdowns on media freedom. Media organizations have urged Tokayev to drop criminal charges against several journalists under house arrest and to revise the country\u2019s legislation to ensure media freedom. Authorities have opened roughly 10 criminal cases against independent journalists and popular bloggers.<\/p>\n

The most recent case involves Lukpan Akhmedyarov, an independent journalist who hosts the YouTube project \u201cProsto Zhurnalistika,\u201d or \u201cSimply Journalism.\u201d He told The Associated Press that a criminal case was opened against him in August on charges of \u201cdisseminating false information,\u201d after he published a list of Kazakhstan\u2019s citizens fighting in Ukraine. He faces up to seven years in prison.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIn the run-up to these parliamentary elections, repression has intensified sharply, with attacks on independent media, cyberattacks, and criminal cases launched against independent journalists and popular bloggers,\u201d Akhmedyarov told the AP from Almaty. \u201cIt feels like the authorities want to silence all media outlets they don\u2019t control \u2014 everyone they couldn\u2019t reach an agreement with or couldn\u2019t buy off.\u201d<\/p>\n

Akhmedyarov said that the streets of Kazakhstan\u2019s major cities are \u201cflooded with advertisements and posters for the pro-presidential Adilet party.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt is not very difficult to predict the outcome of these elections,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kazakhstan was voting Sunday in a parliamentary election that is expected to further strengthen President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev\u2019s grip on power in Central Asia\u2019s largest nation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4336,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asia"],"yoast_head":"\nKazakhstan votes in a parliamentary election expected to strengthen president\u2019s grip on power - Trusted Moving Group<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/?p=4337\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kazakhstan votes in a parliamentary election expected to strengthen president\u2019s grip on power - 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