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Mäjilis of the Parliament Parlamenti Mäjilisi Парламенті Мәжілісі | |
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8th Mäjilis | |
Type | |
Type | |
History | |
Founded | 30 January 1996[1] |
Preceded by | Supreme Council |
Leadership | |
Structure | |
Seats | 98 |
Political groups |
Government (62)
Others (36)
|
Length of term | 5 years |
Elections | |
Mixed-member majoritarian representation Closed party-list proportional representation ( largest remainder method): 69 seats First-past-the-post: 29 seats | |
Last election | 19 March 2023 |
Meeting place | |
Astana, Kazakhstan | |
Website | |
www |
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The Mäjilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan ( Kazakh: Қазақстан Республикасы Парламенті Мәжілісі, romanized: Qazaqstan Respublikasy Parlamentî Mäjîlîsî, also transliterated as Mazhilis; "Assembly" in Kazakh) is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Kazakhstan. The upper house of Parliament is the Senate of Kazakhstan. There are 98 directly-elected seats in the chamber. Members of Parliament are elected to five-year terms. [4]
After the 1995 Kazakh constitutional referendum was held on 30 August 1995 where Kazakhstani voters overwhelmingly approved a new draft of the Constitution of Kazakhstan, a bicameral Parliament was established that included the lower house Mäjilis. [5]
In the 1995 elections, under the new parliamentary structure, all seats in both houses of parliament were contested in December 1995; runoff elections filled twenty-three seats in the Mäjilis for which the initial vote was inconclusive. International observers reported procedural violations in the Mäjilis voting. The new parliament, which was seated on 30 January 1996, included 68 Kazakh and 31 Russian members; 10 deputies members of which were women.[ citation needed]
In the aftermath of the 2004 elections, the Otan became the first party in the Mäjilis to hold the majority of seats which became bigger after the Asar, Civic Party, and Agrarian Party merged with Otan in 2006.
After the constitutional amendments in May 2007, the seats in the Mäjilis were expanded from 77 to 107, and 98 of them were elected through party-list proportional representation that was used for the first time in the 2007 legislative elections. [6] From there, Nur Otan won all the contested seats, eliminating any opposition in the Mazhilis. [7]
In the 2012 legislative elections, minor parties, the Ak Zhol Democratic Party and Communist People's Party of Kazakhstan, entered into Mäjilis; however, the ruling party has maintained its dominant-party control since then. [8]
Constitutional amendments and electoral law changes in 2021 and 2022 eliminated the nine seats reserved for the Assembly of People of Kazakhstan, reduced the electoral threshold for proportional seats from 7% to 5%, and re-introduced single member constituencies.
The Mäjilis is composed of 98 directly-elected members. Elections of Mäjilis members are held every 5 years (unless a snap election is called earlier) and are elected through mixed-member majoritarian representation: 69 seats via closed party-list proportional representation with a required 5% electoral threshold to win seats (which are allocated according to the largest remainder method), and 29 seats via first-past-the-post in single-member constituencies. [9] Since 2021, Article 89 of the Constitutional Law "On Elections" requires for parties to include at least 30% quota of women, young people (aged under 29), and disabled persons within their electoral lists. [10]
The Chairman of the Mäjilis heads the lower chamber and is elected by the Mäjilis members. The Mäjilis Chair opens sessions, convenes regular joint sessions and chairs the regular and extraordinary joint sessions of the Parliament. [11]
The Mäjilis Chairmen is assisted by two Deputy Chairpersons who nominates them and are elected by the deputies of the Mäjilis. The Deputy Chairpersons of the Mäjilis carry out tasks made by the chairman who take on certain responsibilities if he or she is not able to. [11]
The term of office of the Mäjilis members is five years. Regular elections for Mäajilis are held no later than two months before the end of the term of office of the current convocation of the Parliament. Snap elections of Mäjilis members are held within two months from the date of the early termination of the powers of the Mäajilis.
A member of the Mäjilis can be a person who has reached 25 years of age, is a citizen of Kazakhstan and has permanently resided in its territory for the last ten years.
Deprivation of a deputy of the Mäjilis of the Parliament of the mandate may be made when:
The Mäjilis is composed of seven committees: [12]
According to the Constitution of Kazakhstan, the exclusive jurisdiction of the Mäjilis includes:
Mäjilis | Period | Election |
---|---|---|
1st | 30 January 1996 – 1 December 1999 | 1995 |
2nd | 1 December 1999 – 3 November 2004 | 1999 |
3rd | 3 November 2004 – 20 June 2007 | 2004 |
4th | 1 September 2007 – 15 November 2011 | 2007 |
5th | 20 January 2012 – 20 January 2016 | 2012 |
6th | 25 March 2016 – 30 December 2020 | 2016 |
7th | 15 January 2021 – 19 January 2023 | 2021 |
8th | 29 March 2023 – present | 2023 |
Results of the 2023 Kazakh legislative election
Party | Party-list | Constituency | Total seats | +/– | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | ||||
Amanat | 3,431,510 | 53.90 | 40 | 2,798,486 | 44.28 | 22 | 62 | –14 | |
Auyl People's Democratic Patriotic Party | 693,938 | 10.90 | 8 | 79,045 | 1.25 | 0 | 8 | +8 | |
Respublica | 547,154 | 8.59 | 6 | 9,497 | 0.15 | 0 | 6 | +6 | |
Aq Jol Democratic Party | 535,139 | 8.41 | 6 | 121,069 | 1.92 | 0 | 6 | –6 | |
People's Party of Kazakhstan | 432,920 | 6.80 | 5 | 87,803 | 1.39 | 0 | 5 | –5 | |
Nationwide Social Democratic Party | 331,058 | 5.20 | 4 | 31,702 | 0.50 | 0 | 4 | +4 | |
Baytaq Green Party of Kazakhstan | 146,431 | 2.30 | 0 | 17,166 | 0.27 | 0 | 0 | – | |
Russian Community of Kazakhstan | 7,957 | 0.13 | 0 | 0 | – | ||||
Veterans of the GSFG and Group of Warsaw Pact Forces | 5,043 | 0.08 | 0 | 0 | – | ||||
Astana City Veterans of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict | 3,585 | 0.06 | 0 | 0 | – | ||||
Federation of Kazakhstani Motorists | 1,569 | 0.02 | 0 | 0 | – | ||||
Independents | 2,908,792 | 46.03 | 7 | 7 | +7 | ||||
Against all | 248,291 | 3.90 | – | 248,283 | 3.93 | – | – | – | |
Total | 6,366,441 | 100.00 | 69 | 6,319,997 | 100.00 | 29 | 98 | 98 | |
Valid votes | 6,319,997 | 99.06 | |||||||
Invalid/blank votes | 60,227 | 0.94 | |||||||
Total votes | 6,380,224 | 100.00 | |||||||
Registered voters/turnout | 12,035,578 | – | 12,023,562 | 53.06 | |||||
Source: CEC (preliminary) Nomad.su |