Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev signed a decree on dissolution of the lower chamber of parliament and off-year polls on January 15, 2012, according to articles 63, 85 and 87 of the Constitution, News Kazakhstan reports.
The election of 98 MPs will be held based on party lists. Nine MPs will be elected by the Kazakh People’s Assembly on January 16, 2012.
The Central Electoral Commission was requested to organize and hold the polling process, as well as the governments, governors and authorities of Astana and Alma-Ata.
Kazakh parliamentary polls were to be held in August 2012, but 53 out of 107 MPs requested early elections. They explained that they need to switch from a single-party parliament to a multi-party one with at least two parties involved. The MPs added that they expect a second wave of economic recession next year.
Most Kazakhs (67.2%) support the initiative, as indicated by social polls of the “Socio-political mood of the Kazakh population” organized by the Institute for Parliamentarism of the ruling party, Nur Otan.
