Kazakh Parliament Tightens Election Laws

8 April 2005 (RFE/RL) -- Kazakhstan's parliament today passed a raft of amendments to election laws that effectively makes things more difficult for the nation's opposition parties.

One of the amendments bans demonstrations from being held between the end of election an campaign and the release of election results.

Other amendments place tighter restrictions on the timing for registering political candidates for upcoming elections and increase the number of members needed to register as an official political party.

The new rules, which need to be approved by President Nursultan Nazarbayev, come ahead of Kazakhstan's presidential elections, scheduled for 2006.

(RFE/RL/ITAR-TASS)