The election campaign has been launched in Kazakhstan. On Wednesday, the Central Election Commission announced the deadline for nomination of presidential candidates. It will last until April 28. Nursultan Nazarbayev gathered an asset of the Nur Otan party, led by him, and gave instructions for the election.
"According to the schedule, presidential candidates in the Republic of Kazakhstan can be nominated starting from the day after the election was announced, that is, from April 10, 2019, and ends at 18:00 on April 28 of the current year," the CEC said on Wednesday. The campaign of the registered presidential candidates will be held in Kazakhstan from May 11 to June 8, the press service of the Central Election Commission of Kazakhstan reported. "The pre-election campaign will begin immediately after the registration is completed and will last until 00:00 am on the day before the election, that is, June 8. The early presidential elections in Kazakhstan are scheduled for June 9.
According to the law 'On elections', candidates are nominated only by political parties. There are seven parties in Kazakhstan: the Nur Otan party (the ruling party), the Auyl people's democratic (patriotic) party, the Ak Zhol Democratic Party, the Birlik political party, the Communist People's Party of Kazakhstan and the National Social Democratic Party (NSDP).
Almost all parties have already announced their participation in the elections. The chairman of the opposition party Ak Zhol, Azat Peruashev, said that "it is not only an opportunity for each party, but also an honor to take part in this transit of power." According to him, the candidacy nominated by the ruling party will be of great importance. It will be the first time when Nursultan Nazarbayev, the leader of the nation, will not take part in the presidential election. This factor distinguishes the current election from the previous ones. "If earlier his leadership was indisputable, and we all knew that beforehand, now we see that the conditions are being leveled," Peruashev said.
The main requirements for candidates: they must be citizens of Kazakhstan by birth, must be no younger than 40 years old, be fluent in the state language, have a higher education and live in the republic for the last 15 years.
The media noted that one of the most likely candidates for the main state post, Kasym-Zhomart Tokayev, has no right to run for the presidency due to the residency requirement. As Vestnik Kavkaza previously reported, he served at the UN and lived in Geneva from 2011 to 2013.
The final argument was made by the republic's Deputy Minister of Justice Natalia Pan. She said that Kazakh President Kasym-Zhomart Tokayev's work outside the country in 2011-2013 will not prevent his nomination as a candidate to participate in the early presidential elections scheduled for June 9. "It was due to official necessity. The Republic of Kazakhstan sent him there, so it's not an obstacle to his nomination," Natalia Pan said.
Thus, the intrigue of who will be nominated by the ruling Nur-Otan party - President Kasym-Zhomarte Tokayev or Senate Speaker Darig Nazarbayeva remains. It will become known after the convention, which will take place within 20-25 days. The choice is difficult, since both candidates deserve to take up the main state position. But, as a member of the Nur-Otan party, vice-speaker of the Kazakh Mazhilis (the lower house of parliament) Gulmira Isimbayeva noted, "in my opinion, it is more expedient for a party to put forward one candidate."
The Communists of Kazakhstan have already announced their intention to participate in the elections. An extraordinary congress of the Communist People's Party of Kazakhstan will be held on April 26. It is possible that the party leader Vladislav Kosarev will be nominated. However, MP Aikin Konurov also proposed his candidacy.
Director of the Group of Risk Assessment Dosym Satpayev told Vestnik Kavkaza that there will be no Zelensky-like candidate in Kazakhstan. Independent candidates are not provided for by law. In his opinion, the scenario of the current election has already been written, and the composition of participants, the crowd and the main soloist, most likely, have already been chosen.
Nevertheless, Kazakhstan continues to seriously prepare for the elections. In particular, first president Nursultan Nazarbayev gathered on Wednesday the asset of the Nur Otan party, led by him, and gave instructions. He noted that the Nur Otan party should take an active part in the upcoming election campaign. "Yesterday, Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev, using his legal right, signed a decree on holding early presidential election in Kazakhstan. It is necessary to further strengthen the legitimacy of power and ensure stability in the country. Now we need to hold a party congress, where a candidate for the upcoming presidential elections will be nominated. The party’s apparatus must promptly carry out all the necessary work to prepare the congress. After the nomination, the work of the public election headquarters of our party's candidate should be organized. It will be done by my first deputy, Maulen Ashimbayev," Nazarbayev said. He also focused on the need for holding elections in full compliance with the country's legislation and all democratic norms and procedures. Nazarbayev once again stressed that the party has a great responsibility of ensuring the continuity of the chosen political course and fulfilling all the strategic tasks he has defined. The Nur Otan party has become the main locomotive of the modernization of Kazakhstan. Therefore, all tasks should be solved in full.
There will be a lot of work after the election as well. Nazarbayev separately dwelled on the issues of effective implementation of social and economic projects and instructed to approve a specific plan of measures to implement the new party program until 2030. Saying that the Nur Otan party should become a key source of personnel for the state administration system, Nazarbayev instructed to form a republican candidate pool of the party.
