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Added on the 18/01/2017 16:08:44 - Copyright : Wochit
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 half the population of Spain, almost 20 million inhabitants. They should go as planned, there have been numerous reforms and Kazakhstan is a country that right now is developing strongly.""I think there are going to be important changes in parliament. It is a bicameral parliament that has an upper house, the Senate with 48 senators, and a lower house, the Congress, with 109 members. And there are some reforms in Kazakhstan’s electoral law that are going to see a very large renewal in parliament. There are some measures, for example, with incentives to introduce women under 29 years old to around 30% of the political parties’ candidates, by law, and this is going to cause an important renewal in a country that has recently changed its president.”"It has certainly changed the perspective of Kazakhs, that not everything has the same political security. People have to vote and commit to their future and Kazakhs like to participate, they want development and secure growth. During the Covid-19 crisis, Kazakhs have shown to be responsible and have risen to this enormous challenge. There has been a change in president. Nursultan Nazarbayev was the last president of the former Soviet republics. Tokayev has the challenge of ensuring the development of this huge republic with very important expectations and with neighbors as enormous as China and Russia.""Right now the ruling party has about 80% of the share of power and political representatives, but this will surely change over time. New parties have come forward and of course there is a culture of taking part in democracy that will allow Kazakhstan to walk on its own two feet like the country that it is.""There are new parties registered, there are new aspects in terms of this renewal within the political parties, which many have become stagnant in opposition. By moving on from Nursultan Nazarbayev and having another president like Tokayev, who has been in office for barely a year and a half, this has made other parties also change a little. Parliamentary elections, by the way, are held every five years in Kazakhstan. It coincides with this new president and with the focus on the country's development. The Covid crisis has made citizens and parties think about the Kazakh Republic’s unity.""I believe that in this case there will be an important social commitment, I believe that participation will be higher in relation to past elections, precisely because of the republic’s new president. The fact that Nazarbayev is no longer president of the republic will make people more motivated and committed to the future, and also the Covid situation will encourage people to participate, with the new political options and the internal changes all parties are experiencing.”Keywords: efe,kazakhstan,elections,parliament,barcelo
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