Parliamentary elections in Kazakhstan in the context of large-scale political modernization of society and the state

Riga, 27 March 2023 – a meeting was held at the Embassy of Kazakhstan in Latvia with the editors-in-chief and heads of a number of leading Latvian media: the news portal "La.lv" and the daily newspaper "Latvijas avize", the TV channel "TV24", the State Latvian Radio, the news portal "Freecity.lv", the publishing house "Mediaservis", the news portal "NRA.lv" and the newspaper "Neatkariga Rita Avize".

During the meeting, the Ambassador of Kazakhstan informed the interlocutors about the results of early elections to the Mazhilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan and local representative bodies of all levels.

It was emphasized that the elections held were highly competitive and were held according to new rules and norms in accordance with the adopted amendments to the Constitution of the country, as well as amendments to the Law "On Elections". In particular, a mixed electoral system was used, the registration threshold for political parties and the threshold level for entering the Parliament were reduced to 5%, the representation of women, youth and persons with special needs in the list of candidates was fixed (at least 30%), column "against all" had been added.

The Kazakh diplomat also noted that a large number of foreign observers and representatives of foreign media from 41 countries and 12 international organizations observed the elections in Kazakhstan. The most numerous were the missions of the OSCE/ODIHR and the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, including two representatives from Latvia. Foreign observers were given the opportunity to monitor the elections in all regions of Kazakhstan.

Further, the Ambassador noted that the new composition of the Kazakh Parliament will have to ensure at the legislative level the effective implementation of presidential reforms aimed at the comprehensive modernization of society and the state.

The Latvian side was acquainted with the main achievements of Kazakhstan in the political, socio-economic spheres and the most important international initiatives of our country.

The meeting also touched upon topical issues of the development of multifaceted Kazakh-Latvian relations.

During the conversation, the Ambassador of Kazakhstan gave detailed and detailed answers to the questions of the interlocutors.

At the end of the meeting, the Kazakh diplomat invited the Latvian colleagues to take part in thematic press tours organized by the Kazakh side for representatives of foreign media to cover political, economic and cultural events in Kazakhstan this year.