Political scientist believes elections will "renew" Kazakh parliament
- hace 3 años
Madrid (Spain), Dec 15 (EFE) - Spanish political scientist and Central Asia expert, José Luis Barceló, said on Tuesday that the legislative elections to be held in Kazakhstan on January 10 will see "a very large renewal" of parliament, in part due to measures such as a quota for women.
The inclusion "by law" of at least 30% women in the political parties’s lists of candidates participating in the elections is one of the electoral reforms in Kazakhstan that, Barceló said, will generate an "important renewal" in a country that has recently changed its president.
The director of Spanish business daily El Mundo Financiero said in an interview with Efe that the elections are expected to take place "with normality," with observers from the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and a large number of foreign journalists attending.
The January poll will be the first to be held in the Central Asian republic after the resignation of its first president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, who held power for nearly 30 years, since independence from the USSR in December 1991.
"The people have to vote and commit to their future," Barceló said, adding that he predicts an increase in voter turnout with respect to the previous elections as a result, among other reasons, of the new Kazakh president.
In the expert's opinion, the arrival of Nazarbayev’s successor, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, who won nearly 71% of the vote in the 2019 presidential elections, together with the crisis brought about by Covid-19 and the country's development prospects, have made citizens and political parties think about the nation’s unity.
In Kazakhstan, which currently ranks 139th in the Economist's Democracy Index, there are six registered political parties, of which only three - the ruling Nur Otan, the People's Party of Kazakhstan (formerly the Communist People's Party) and the democratic party Ak Zhol (Shining Path) - are represented in the Mazhilis, or lower house, which has 107 members elected for five-year terms.
Although Nur Otan currently holds about "80% of the share of power and political representation", Barceló believes that this situation "will surely change" over time.
"There are new parties registered, there are new aspects regarding the renewal within political parties, and there has been a change in president, which has altered the perspectives of the parties a little," he added.
SOUND BITES OF SPANISH POLITICAL SCIENTIST JOSÉ LUIS BARCELÓ:
"CSTO observers are planned to go, many countries are already accredited. There will also be a very large media presence. I am honored to be accredited for these elections. I believe that they will go ahead with normality in a country that is, so that we can get used to the idea, more than five times the size of Spain, two and a half million square kilometers, and less than the Spanish population, almost 20 million inhabitants. They should go as planned, there have been numerous reforms and Kazakhstan is a country that right now is developi
The inclusion "by law" of at least 30% women in the political parties’s lists of candidates participating in the elections is one of the electoral reforms in Kazakhstan that, Barceló said, will generate an "important renewal" in a country that has recently changed its president.
The director of Spanish business daily El Mundo Financiero said in an interview with Efe that the elections are expected to take place "with normality," with observers from the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and a large number of foreign journalists attending.
The January poll will be the first to be held in the Central Asian republic after the resignation of its first president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, who held power for nearly 30 years, since independence from the USSR in December 1991.
"The people have to vote and commit to their future," Barceló said, adding that he predicts an increase in voter turnout with respect to the previous elections as a result, among other reasons, of the new Kazakh president.
In the expert's opinion, the arrival of Nazarbayev’s successor, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, who won nearly 71% of the vote in the 2019 presidential elections, together with the crisis brought about by Covid-19 and the country's development prospects, have made citizens and political parties think about the nation’s unity.
In Kazakhstan, which currently ranks 139th in the Economist's Democracy Index, there are six registered political parties, of which only three - the ruling Nur Otan, the People's Party of Kazakhstan (formerly the Communist People's Party) and the democratic party Ak Zhol (Shining Path) - are represented in the Mazhilis, or lower house, which has 107 members elected for five-year terms.
Although Nur Otan currently holds about "80% of the share of power and political representation", Barceló believes that this situation "will surely change" over time.
"There are new parties registered, there are new aspects regarding the renewal within political parties, and there has been a change in president, which has altered the perspectives of the parties a little," he added.
SOUND BITES OF SPANISH POLITICAL SCIENTIST JOSÉ LUIS BARCELÓ:
"CSTO observers are planned to go, many countries are already accredited. There will also be a very large media presence. I am honored to be accredited for these elections. I believe that they will go ahead with normality in a country that is, so that we can get used to the idea, more than five times the size of Spain, two and a half million square kilometers, and less than the Spanish population, almost 20 million inhabitants. They should go as planned, there have been numerous reforms and Kazakhstan is a country that right now is developi