2005 Kazakh presidential election

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2005 Kazakh presidential election
Flag of Kazakhstan.svg
←  1999 4 December 2005 2011  →
Turnout76.78% (Decrease2.svg10.27pp)
  Nursultan Nazarbayev (2004-09-09) (cropped).jpg Zharmakhan Tuyakbay (cropped).jpg
Nominee Nursultan Nazarbayev Zharmakhan Tuyakbay
Party Otan Independent
Alliance People's Coalition ÄQÜ
Popular vote6,147,517445,934
Percentage91.15%6.61%
2005 Kazakh presidential election results by region.png
Results by region
President before election

Nursultan Nazarbayev
Otan

Elected President

Nursultan Nazarbayev
Otan

Presidential elections were held in Kazakhstan on 4 December 2005. Incumbent president Nursultan Nazarbayev, in power since 1989, sought and won a 3rd term against four other candidates. Opposition candidates were allowed some access to the mass media, but this was still restricted. According to western election observers, opposition candidates also suffered considerable harassment. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) criticized the elections, calling them unfair, but noted improvements.

Contents

Background

On 22 June 2000, the Constitutional Council declared that the President Nursultan Nazarbayev who was reelected in 1999 for second term, was his first due to the newly adopted Kazakhstan Constitution in 1995, which happened before his reelection bid, thus making Nazarbayev eligible to run for de facto third term. [1]

Prominent Kazakh official, Zharmakhan Tuyakbay, resigned as the Mäjilis chairman in October 2004, after accusing the government of rigging the 2004 legislative elections. [2] The following month, he joined the opposition by becoming the chairman of the Coordinating Council of Democratic Forces of Kazakhstan in November 2004 where he worked in drafting the new Kazakh Constitution. [3] In March 2005, Tuyakbay became the chairman of newly created political movement bloc For a Just Kazakhstan and was nominated as candidate for the election which was supposed to be held in December 2006. [4] [5] However in June 2005, it was announced that a snap election would be held in December 2005. [6]

Zamanbek Nurkadilov, described as the leading figure of the opposition, was unable to take part, having died shortly before the election. A former mayor of Almaty and government minister, Nurkadilov had joined the opposition. He was found shot dead in November, shortly after reportedly saying that he would go public with documents proving government corruption. Near his body was "a pillow pierced by bullets that may have been used as a silencer". The official cause of death was presented as suicide, with a report stating that Nurkadilov had shot himself twice in the chest and then once in the head. [7] [8] [9]

Electoral system

The President of Kazakhstan is elected using the two-round system; if no candidate receives a majority of the vote in the first round, a second round is held between the top two candidates. [10]

Procedure

On 19 August 2005, the Constitutional Council ruled that the 2005 presidential elections must be held on the first Sunday of December 2005 and on 7 September 2005, the Mazhilis adopted a resolution, setting the election day for 4 December. [11]

On 9 September 2005, President Nursultan Nazarbayev signed a decree "On Measures on Realization of Election Rights of Citizens of the Republic of Kazakhstan" to which it instructed various state authorities to ensure free, fair and competitive elections.

Candidates

Registered

Registration of candidates was held between 3 and 24 October 2005. The Central Election Commission (OSK) received 72 submissions from the prosecution bodies on violations of the legislation, which along with petitions of citizens resulted in the re-examination the candidates' signatures. Based on the results of investigation, the CEC issued an official statement on violations of the law of the country during collection of signatures in the support to the candidates. [12]

The following five candidates were registered to the OSK: [12]

Denied

On 24 October 2005, due to the failure to submit the necessary documents, the following applicants were refused registration as candidates for the Presidency: [12]

Failed

Prior to that, registration was denied to applicants who did not meet the requirements of the Constitution of Kazakhstan for candidates:

Results

Overall

CandidatePartyVotes%
Nursultan Nazarbayev Otan 6,147,51791.15
Zharmakhan Tuyakbay For a Just Kazakhstan 445,9346.61
Alikhan Baimenov Ak Zhol Democratic Party 108,7301.61
Erasyl Abilqasymov Communist People's Party 23,2520.34
Mels Eleusizov Tabighat18,8340.28
Total6,744,267100.00
Valid votes6,744,26798.15
Invalid/blank votes127,3041.85
Total votes6,871,571100.00
Registered voters/turnout8,949,19976.78
Source: Embassy of Kazakhstan in the United Kingdom

Reactions

Onalsyn Zhumabekov, Chairman of Kazakhstan's Central Election Commission, declared the election valid. About 1,600 observers monitored the election, including 465 from the influential Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

Bruce George, coordinator for observers from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, was highly critical of the election: "Regrettably, despite some efforts which were undertaken to improve the process, the authorities did not exhibit sufficient political will to hold a genuinely good election."

The OSCE has gone on record noting the following issues with the election "Unauthorized persons interfering in polling stations, cases of multiple voting, ballot box stuffing and pressure on students to vote were observed during voting and during the count, observers saw tampering with result protocols and a wide range of procedural violations."

Nazarbayev's main challenger, Zharmakhan Tuyakbay, refused to concede the race. He called for the Supreme Court of Kazakhstan to annul the election results by alleged voter fraud that was committed by the Central Election Commission. [15] [16] However the court found no violations and as result, Tuyakbay's claims were dismissed on 23 December 2005. [17]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nursultan Nazarbayev</span> President of Kazakhstan from 1990 to 2019

Nursultan Abishuly Nazarbayev is a Kazakh politician and military officer who served as the first President of Kazakhstan, in office 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. He held the special title of Elbasy from 2010 to 2022. Nazarbayev was one of the longest-ruling non-royal leaders in the world, having led Kazakhstan for nearly three decades, excluding chairmanship in the Security Council after the end of his presidency. He has often been referred to as a dictator due to usurpation of power and autocratic rule. He was named First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Kazakh SSR in 1989 and was elected as the nation's first president shortly before its independence from the Soviet Union.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniyal Akhmetov</span> Former Prime Minister of Kazakhstan

Daniyal Kenjetaiuly Akhmetov is a Kazakh politician who was the 6th Prime Minister of Kazakhstan from 13 June 2003 to 9 January 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parliament of Kazakhstan</span> Legislature of Kazakhstan

The Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan is the bicameral legislature of Kazakhstan. The lower house is the Mazhilis, with 107 seats, which are elected to five-year terms. The upper house is the Senate, which has 47 members.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">President of Kazakhstan</span> Head of state of Kazakhstan

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zharmakhan Tuyakbay</span> Kazakh politician

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zamanbek Nurkadilov</span> Kazakh politician

Zamanbek Qalabayuly Nurkadilov was a Kazakh politician who served as the head of Almaty in Kazakhstan and Minister of Emergency Situations in the Nazarbayev administration. In March 2004, he began to criticize President Nursultan Nazarbayev. On 11 November 2005, three weeks before the 2005 presidential election, someone shot him twice in the chest and once in the head. The Government of Kazakhstan ruled his death a suicide, but Radio Free Europe alleges he was the victim of an assassination. Which led people many believe that Nazarbayev was responsible for the assassination.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amanat (political party)</span> Political party in Kazakhstan

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. Amanat has been led by Erlan Qoşanov since 26 April 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1991 Kazakh presidential election</span>

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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 Mazhilis. 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.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">2016 Kazakh legislative election</span>

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Events of 2019 in Kazakhstan.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Serikbolsyn Abdildin</span> Soviet-Kazakh politician and economist (1937–2019)

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References

  1. ↑ Radchenko, Sergey; Rakhmetov, Baurzhan (2020-08-06). "Putin Is Ruling Russia Like a Central Asian Dictator". Foreign Policy. Archived from the original on 2020-08-06. Retrieved 2020-10-30.
  2. ↑ КАМЗИЕВА, Гульмира (2004-10-23). "Туякбай – не заместитель президента, и уже – не заместитель председателя партии". Радио Азаттык (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2020-10-20. Retrieved 2020-10-17.
  3. ↑ "Жармахан Туякбай ушел в оппозицию". zonakz.net (in Russian). 2004-11-24. Archived from the original on 2020-10-18. Retrieved 2020-10-17.
  4. ↑ "Жармахан Туякбай выдвинут как единый кандидат в президенты РК от демократических сил | Номад | 22.03.2005". nomad.su (in Russian). 2005-03-22. Archived from the original on 2005-05-08. Retrieved 2020-10-17.
  5. ↑ "Kazakh Opposition Names Challenger To Nazarbaev". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. 2005-03-20. Archived from the original on 2020-10-18. Retrieved 2020-10-17.
  6. ↑ "Партия Отан мобилизует свои силы | Номад | 29.06.2005". nomad.su (in Russian). 2005-06-29. Archived from the original on 2007-05-04. Retrieved 2020-10-17.
  7. ↑ "Kazakh Opposition Figure's Death Ruled Suicide", Radio Free Europe, 29 November 2005
  8. ↑ "Kazakhstan opposition member slain", New York Times, November 13, 2011
  9. ↑ "'Election' présidentielle au Kazakhstan", Euronews, 3 April 2011
  10. ↑ Republic of Kazakhstan: Election for President Archived 2019-03-27 at the Wayback Machine IFES
  11. ↑ "Выборы президента Казахстана состоятся 4 декабря". ИА REGNUM (in Russian). 2005-09-08. Archived from the original on 2005-12-05. Retrieved 2021-04-24.
  12. 1 2 3 INFORMATION COMPENDIUM ABOUT ELECTIONS AND REPUBLICAN REFERENDA, HELD IN THE REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN FROM 25 MARCH 1990 TILL 16 JANUARY 2012 VOLUME I (PDF). Astana: THE CENTRAL ELECTION COMMISSION OF THE REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN. 2012. p. 466.
  13. ↑ "Об установлении соответствия кандидата в Президенты Республики Казахстан Жамбулова Тилепалды Сатышулы предъявляемым к нему Конституцией Республики Казахстан и Конституционным законом Республики Казахстан "О выборах в Республике Казахстан" требованиям". www.election.gov.kz (in Russian). 2005-10-01. Archived from the original on 2019-06-10. Retrieved 2021-04-24.
  14. ↑ "Об установлении соответствия кандидата в Президенты Республики Казахстан Сакаева Оразалы предъявляемым к нему Конституцией Республики Казахстан и Конституционным законом Республики Казахстан "О выборах в Республике Казахстан" требованиям". www.election.gov.kz (in Russian). 2005-10-04. Archived from the original on 2019-06-10. Retrieved 2005-10-04.
  15. ↑ "Preliminary Results Give Kazakh President Landslide Win". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. 2005-12-05. Archived from the original on 2020-10-18. Retrieved 2020-10-17.
  16. ↑ "Kazakh election condemned". www.aljazeera.com. 2005-12-05. Archived from the original on 2020-10-18. Retrieved 2020-10-17.
  17. ↑ "Верховный суд отказал Туякбаю в удовлетворении иска к ЦИК РК | Номад | 26.12.2005". nomad.su (in Russian). 2005-12-26. Archived from the original on 2006-01-04. Retrieved 2020-10-17.
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