On the eve of the elections, we met with the chairman of the Uzunkol District Election Commission, Alyona Bisembayeva.
In the Address "Kazakhstan in a new reality: time for action" dated September 1, 2020, the Head of State stated the need to introduce direct elections of rural akims and to make appropriate changes to the electoral legislation. The relevant amendments were made to the electoral legislation. It is known that the first direct elections of mayors of rural districts, whose term of office is coming to an end, have been announced and will be held on July 25, 2021. How do the elections of the 2021 akims differ from the elections of previous years?
Elections are an important institution of the democratization of society, one of the main forms of people's participation in public administration. In direct elections, a candidate for akim feels a great responsibility to his voters. Until today, in the Republic of Kazakhstan, the elections of akims of cities of district significance, villages, settlements, rural districts were conducted by an indirect method, that is, they were elected by the deputies of district masli-khats. Elections of mayors of villages, rural districts from 2021
they are held on the basis of universal, equal and direct suffrage, by secret ballot, which means they are directly elected by citizens, all the electors of a particular village or rural district will take part in the voting. - What is the basis for the appointment of elections of mayors of villages, rural districts of the district? - The basis for calling elections is the end of the term of office of the akim of a village, rural district established by law and the early termination of the powers of the akim of a village, rural district or a change in the administrative-territorial structure
units, in cases established by law. - Are there any changes in the order of the election campaign? - In general, the procedure for conducting elections will be carried out according to the previous mechanism, but there are also innovations: the appointment of elections of mayors of villages, rural districts, the nomination of only one candidate in one electoral district by political parties and a candidate in the order of self-nomination by submitting a statement of intention to run to the territorial election commission, collecting signatures in support of the candidate-self-nominee, making an electoral
the candidate's contribution (in one-fold amount of the minimum wage established by the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan), checking for compliance of candidates for akims of a village, rural district with the requirements of the legislation in the field of public service, registration of candidates for akims of a village, rural district by the district election commission, conducting an election campaign, holding elections, registration of the elected akim of a rural district. The candidate who has received the largest number of votes of the electors who took part in the voting in comparison with other candidates will be considered elected. - What will direct elections of village akims and rural districts give to the population? - Direct elections of mayors of rural districts will increase the activity of citizens in the full realization of their constitutional rights, strengthen the public's trust in the authorities and the akim's accountability to the population, increase the responsiveness of the rural akim to the needs and problems of the population, fully allow the concept of a "Hearing state"to be implemented.