Kazakhstan recently held flawed parliamentary elections.
According to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, or O-S-C-E, the
voting process in Kazakhstan showed some improvements but still failed to meet standards
of fairness. In particular, vote counting in over forty percent of the polling stations
was not conducted in a transparent manner.
U.S. State Department spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos (guy-AY-go-ss) said the United States
concurs with the O-S-C-E assessment:
"We take note of Kazakhstan's commitment to improve the election process and their
Central Election Committee worked to increase the transparency and integrity of the
elections. Nonetheless, there were serious shortcomings, including legal provisions such
as a high threshold of seven percent for party representation in the parliament, the
process by which victorious parties chose deputies from their list, and the fact that an
unelected body appoints nine of the one-hundred seven seats in the lower house of
parliament."
According to official results, Kazakhstan's governing party, Light of the Fatherland,
won eighty-eight percent of the vote. It was the only political party to win at least
seven percent of the vote needed to enter parliament. Under Kazakhstan's new system of
proportional representation, Light of the Fatherland will receive all ninety-eight seats
up for election. Nine seats will be filled later by appointment. Two opposition parties,
the All-National Social Democratic Party and Bright Path, won about four percent and three
percent respectively.
State Department spokesman Gallegos said the U.S. hopes "that the government of
Kazakhstan will address these shortcomings as it continues to reform the elections law and
promptly and fairly resolves any complaint and appeal related to violations of that
law." The best guarantor of Kazakhstan's success would be a stable democratic system
where all citizens have a stake in the future.
