IFES Election Guide - Country Profile: Kazakhstan

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Presidential
2012

Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Region: Asia & Pacific

Description of government structure:

Chief of State: President Nursultan Abishevich NAZARBAYEV
Head of Government: Prime Minister Karim MASIMOV
Assembly: Kazakhstan has a bicameral Parliament consisting of the Senate with 39 seats and the lower house (Majilis) with 107 seats.

Description of electoral system:

The President is elected by simple majority vote to serve a 7-year term.
In the Senate, 7 members are appointed to serve 6-year terms and 32 members are elected by indirect vote to serve 6-year terms*. In the lower house (Majilis), 107 members are elected by popular vote on block lists by proportional representation to serve 5-year terms and 9 members are appointed to serve 5-year terms.**

* In the Senate, 7 members are appointed by the president and 32 are indirectly elected by oblast-level government bodies, all to serve 6-year terms.

** Under Election Law enacted in June 2007, 98 of the 107 Majilis deputies are elected via a proportional, closed list system. The remaining nine deputies will be chosen by the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan, an unelected body containing 364 members formed by the President of Kazakhstan.