ALMATY, Kazakhstan -- The ruling Amanat party appears to have won a majority of seats in a general election in Kazakhstan that international observers said showed some progress over previous votes while a number of opposition politicians claimed that the balloting was unfair.
Preliminary official results are expected from the Central Election Committee on March 20, a day after exit polls said Amanat had taken about 53 percent of the votes cast for the 98 seats in the lower house. At least three other parties surpassed the 5 percent threshold in order to enter parliament, according to the polls, with one showing as many as six parties winning seats.
Slightly more than half of the 12 million eligible voters went to the polls, according to the Central Election Committee. The parliamentary elections took place at the same time as local elections across the vast, oil-rich country and complete a political cycle after bloody unrest last year left at least 238 people dead.
“Democracy is a process that requires constant attention and dedication. We have noted some welcome improvements, including related to election laws, but Kazakhstan will only achieve the stated political goal of democratic development if far-reaching reforms continue,” Irene Charalambides, special coordinator and leader of the short-term observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), said on March 20.
“In particular, greater attention to protecting everyone’s fundamental freedoms is needed. Most notably, the restrictive media space and limited campaign coverage did not match candidates’ efforts to engage in a more dynamic contest,” she added.
The vote follows a referendum in June that marked the end of special privileges for the country's former longtime leader Nursultan Nazarbaev and snap presidential elections in November that handed 69-year-old incumbent Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev a fresh seven-year presidential term.
The early elections were the first since 2004 in which candidates without party affiliations could stand for seats in the lower house, called the Mazhilis, as part of a package of electoral reforms initiated by Toqaev in the wake of the unrest in January 2022.
But only 29 of the parliament’s seats are available to the single-mandate candidates, with the rest reserved for party list candidates.
Several candidates in the country's largest city, Almaty, said on March 20 that they would not recognize the results because of "various violations" of voting laws.
Journalist and activist Inga Imanbai told reporters at a news conference with two other independent candidates to the parliament and a candidate to Almaty city council, that a court appeal would be launched because "the votes of independent candidates were stolen."
The four listed various violations, including the improper counting of ballots and government pressure on public employees to vote for certain parties.
"I went to the elections with hope. But I was wrong. However, we will continue to fight for our rights," said Ravqat Mukhtarov, who was a candidate to the Almaty municipal council.
The return of single-mandate district races added some dynamism to a vote dominated by system candidates in a country where no elections have been deemed free or fair by international election monitors since Kazakhstan gained independence more than 30 years ago.
Still, several opposition-minded figures were excluded from races at the parliamentary and city council level on administrative pretexts, while others complained of government pressure on their campaigns.
Of the seven parties that competed, the most well-established was Amanat, a renamed version of the Nur Otan party bossed by octogenarian Nazarbaev, who remained powerful even after stepping down and allowing Toqaev to succeed him in 2019.
The OSCE noted that "limits on the exercise of constitutionally guaranteed fundamental freedoms remain and some political groups continue to be prevented from participating as political parties in elections."
While the voting "was organized in a smooth manner overall," the OSCE said "significant procedural irregularities were observed."
“The increased competition, particularly with self-nominated candidates, is a significant development. However, legal and practical hurdles continue to detract from a fully open race among equals,” said Reinhold Lopatka, the leader of the delegation from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.
“In the future, the publication of results for each polling station will be important for improved transparency and public confidence.”
Last year’s crisis effectively ended the political career of Nazarbaev, who relinquished his remaining positions to Toqaev, while denying rumors of a rift with his protege.