Almaty, 8 October 1997 (RFE/RL) - Voters in Kazakhstan have begun going to the polls today to elect 14 new members of the Senate, the upper house.
The Senate has until now had 47 members, 26 of whom were appointed by Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, and 21 of whom were elected by the people. The number of directly elected senators has now been cut to 14 because of a merger of some oblasts (regions).
The Senate has until now had 47 members, 26 of whom were appointed by Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, and 21 of whom were elected by the people. The number of directly elected senators has now been cut to 14 because of a merger of some oblasts (regions).