International Observers to Monitor Kazakhstan's Parliamentary Elections

ASTANA, August 3. /TASS/

More than 50 international observers from the CIS and Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) will monitor parliamentary elections in Kazakhstan, the country’s Central Election Commission (CEC) said.

According to CEC Deputy Chairman Mukhtar Yerman, as of August 3, the CEC has accredited 155 observers from nine countries and four international organizations, in particular, 22 observers from the CIS mission, 23 - from the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly, six - from the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly, and 86 - from the OSCE.

Apart from that, the elections will be monitored by observers from Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, and a number of other countries. The accreditation of observers from foreign countries and international organizations will continue until August 17.

The Central Election Commission said earlier that as of August 2, as many as 12,605,788 Kazakh nationals were eligible to vote.

On July 1, Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed a decree scheduling parliamentary elections for August 23. The country’s new Constitution, which also took effect on July 1, replaced Kazakhstan’s bicameral legislature with a 145-seat unicameral parliament, the Kurultai, whose members will serve five-year terms. All Kurultai members will be elected on party tickets, while the previous election system also included single-seat constituencies. In all, seven political parties may vie for parliamentary seats.