Kazakhstan's First Kurultai Election Tests Parties' Ability to Deliver
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Kazakhstan's first Kurultai election on Aug. 23 shifted focus from winning votes to how effectively parties can represent voters and deliver results, experts said. Adilet secured three-quarters of the 145 seats, placing greater responsibility on the party to deliver in the inaugural term. Turnout rose to 74.08% from 54.19% in 2023.
Key Facts
- Five parties entered the 145-seat Kurultai after clearing the 5% threshold, with Adilet securing three-quarters of the seats.
- The People's Party of Kazakhstan received 3.11% and Baytaq 1.07%, while 2.51% of voters selected "against all."
- Turnout in the first Kurultai election was 74.08%, compared with 54.19% in the 2023 parliamentary election.
- Pre-election polling placed potential turnout between 70% and 76%, according to Marian Abisheva, deputy director of the Presidential Center of Kazakhstan.
- The share of undecided voters fell from 23.6% in an early survey to 3.9% in a later poll.
Dominant Majority, Higher Responsibility
Political scientist Gaziz Abishev said the scale of Adilet's majority places greater responsibility on the party to deliver results in Kurultai's inaugural term. He wrote in his Telegram channel that everything done by the Kurultai and its institutions during the first convocation will rest fully with Adilet and its leadership, given the vertical nature of management in Parliament. Kazakh statesman Yerlan Koshanov told Kazakhstanskaya Pravda that voters increasingly assess parties by the substance of their programs and proposals rather than slogans alone. Koshanov said the first Kurultai's lawmakers would be responsible for translating the new Constitution's principles into legislation.
Turnout Rises, Voter Preferences Consolidate
Turnout was close to the 73.12% recorded during the March referendum on the new Constitution. Marian Abisheva, deputy director of the Presidential Center of Kazakhstan, said the March referendum and the August elections form a single political sequence. She said citizens first participated in determining the state's new constitutional architecture, then months later formed the first representative institution operating within that architecture. Abisheva also pointed to a sharp decline in the share of undecided voters during the campaign, from 23.6% in an early survey to 3.9% in a later poll.
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Kazakhstan's First Kurultai Election Tests Parties' Ability to Deliver
