The politics of Kazakhstan takes place in the framework of a semi-presidential republic, whereby the President of Kazakhstan is head of state and nominates the head of government. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of parliament.
Nursultan Abishuly Nazarbayev is a Kazakh politician and military officer who served as the first President of Kazakhstan, from the country’s independence in 1991 until his formal resignation in 2019, and as the Chairman of the Security Council of Kazakhstan from 1991 to 2022.
The Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan oversees a presidential republic. The President of Kazakhstan, currently Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, is head of state and nominates the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, the head of government. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of parliament.
The Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan is the bicameral legislature of Kazakhstan. The lower house is the Mäjilis, with 98 seats which are elected to five-year terms. The upper house is the Senate, which has 50 members.
Elections in Kazakhstan are held on a national level to elect a President and the Parliament, which is divided into two bodies, the Majilis and the Senate. Local elections for maslihats are held every five years.
The Aq Jol, officially the "Aq Jol" Democratic Party of Kazakhstan is a liberal-conservative political party in Kazakhstan. The Aq Jol is led by Azat Peruaşev, a deputy of the Mäjilis.
The president of the Republic of Kazakhstan is the head of state of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The president is the holder of the highest office within the Republic of Kazakhstan. The powers of this position are described in a special section of the Constitution of Kazakhstan.
The Mäjilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan, commonly referred to as Mäjilis or Mazhilis is the lower house of the Parliament of Kazakhstan, alongside the upper house Senate. Together, they form the national bicameral legislature of Kazakhstan, responsible for enacting legislation. Established by the Constitution of Kazakhstan following the 1995 constitutional referendum, the Mäjilis was first convened in 1996. The chamber plays role in the legislative process, debating and passing laws, where lawmakers discuss key issues facing the country and propose solutions to address them by representing the interests of constituents.
The Senate of Kazakhstan is the upper house of two chambers in Kazakhstan's legislature, known as the Parliament (Parlamenti). The Senate is composed of elected members: two from each region and two from three municipalities which are Almaty, Astana, and Shymkent.
Zharmakhan Aitbaiuly Tuyakbay is a retired Kazakh politician. He was the chairman of the Nationwide Social Democratic Party from 2007 to 2019 and prior to that, he served as the Mäjilis chairman from 1999 to 2004.
Amanat, previously known as Nur Otan until 2022, is a political party in Kazakhstan. Being the largest to date, it has been the ruling party of the country from 1999, with a membership claiming to be of over 762,000 people in 2007. The Amanat has been led by Erlan Qoşanov since 26 April 2022.
Legislative elections were held in Kazakhstan on 18 August 2007 to elected. President Nursultan Nazarbayev's ruling Nur Otan party received 88% of the vote and won all of the available seats, as none of the six other parties contesting the election had managed to pass the 7% electoral threshold to win seats.
Presidential elections were held in Kazakhstan on 10 January 1999. Incumbent president Nursultan Nazarbayev won the election with over 80% of the vote, and was sworn into office on 20 January 1999. Most observers viewed the election as blatantly unfair, further confirming that Nazarbayev was not interested in promoting a democratic system of government. Voter turnout was reported to be 87%.
Early presidential elections were held in Kazakhstan on 3 April 2011, having been originally scheduled for 2012. The elections were called after a plan for holding a referendum to increase president term limits to 2020 was rejected by the Constitutional Council. Nazarbayev was re-elected for a fourth term with 95% of the vote and a 90% turnout, against three nominal candidates. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has complained about a lack of transparency and competition in the vote.
Legislative elections were held in Kazakhstan on 15 January 2012. The result was a victory for the Nur Otan party, which won 83 of the 98 seats in the Mäjilis. However, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) stated that the election "did not meet fundamental principles of democratic elections." The elections marked the first time that the second-placed party would gain parliamentary seats irrespective of whether it cleared the 7% electoral threshold. Due to the Zhanaozen massacre and the resulting state of emergency there, the election was not planned to be held in Zhanaozen. However, this decision was overturned on 10 January 2012.
Erlan Jaqanūly Qoşanov is a Kazakh politician who is serving as the member and chairman of the Mäjilis since 2022. Prior to that, he served as the Aqorda Chief of Staff under Kassym-Jomart Tokayev's administration from 2019 to 2022, äkim of Karaganda Region from 2017 to 2019 and the head of the Prime Minister's Office from 2012 to 2017.
The Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan of the 7th convocation was a convocation of the Parliament of Kazakhstan from 2021 to 2023.
A constitutional referendum in Kazakhstan, locally called the Republican referendum, was held on 5 June 2022. It was the third referendum since Kazakhstan's independence in 1991, and the first since the 1995 referendum that established the current constitution. The amendments followed violent civil unrest in early January caused by worsening economic conditions and subsequent calls for rapid political reform. The referendum changed 33 of the document's 98 articles. Political commentators assessed that amendments would lessen the influence of the executive branch, grant more powers to the Parliament, and eliminate the powers that former president Nursultan Nazarbayev had retained after resigning from office in 2019.
New Kazakhstan is a concept developed by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev that represents a forward-looking national aspiration for progress, renewal, and modernization in various aspects of Kazakhstan's governance and society. It was first proposed in 2022 following the January events as a response to the societal challenges and demands for change during that period.
The acting president of the Republic of Kazakhstan is a temporary post provided by the Constitution of Kazakhstan. This role is assumed by an individual who fulfills the duties of the president of Kazakhstan in cases of incapacity or vacancy. However, the acting president is more limited in power, as they cannot propose constitutional amendments.
