NEWS

Statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan

            The early Parliamentary election on January 15, 2012 took place in a peaceable, calm, free and transparent atmosphere and represents an important step in Kazakhstan’s continuing political development.

            The authorities have ensured all the necessary conditions to allow the people of Kazakhstan to express their constitutional right for free and democratic expression, which has contributed to high voter turnout.

            The Central Election Commission (CEC) conducted its work in an open and transparent manner.

            The most important outcome of the election campaign, according to preliminary results of the CEC, is the entry of three political parties into the new Majilis of the Parliament, which reflects the interests of the majority of the population and its mature civic society.

            This represents another step forward for our nation: it will increase debate and the competition of ideas, strengthening our Parliament and our political system as a whole.

            Kazakhstan has welcomed the presence of all international observers and believes their work has played an important and generally constructive role in the ongoing development of our electoral process.

            A total of 819 observers from 11 international organizations and 29 countries, as well as 156 foreign media representatives observed the vote.

            All international organizations have made independent assessments and conclusions based on their own observation of the electoral process.

            The monitoring mission of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) stated that the parliamentary election in Kazakhstan was “open, transparent and took place in accordance with the law of the country and existing democratic norms.”

            The mission of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) believes “the election of deputies of the Majilis of the Parliament were legitimate, free and open and generally met the requirements of the national law and accepted international commitments.”

            Elsa Papademetriou, the Head of the Delegation of the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly, said, “These elections proved to be a move in the right direction.”

            Kazakhstan took note of the preliminary assessment and conclusion of the ODIHR/OSCE mission. At the same time, we believe the mission did not take a balanced approach to evaluating the pre-election process and the voting.

            Kazakhstan is firmly committed to the fundamental principles of holding democratic elections.

            We understand that democracy in our nation is still a work in progress. Kazakhstan will continue to pursue a steady path of democratization, ensuring fundamental freedoms and human rights.

Date of issue: 2012-01-16