A newly formed party loyal to Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev won a commanding majority in the Central Asian country’s first parliamentary election under a new constitution, preliminary results showed on Monday, cementing his grip on power in the energy- and minerals-rich nation.
The Adilet party, or “Justice,” won 71.17% of the vote, according to the Central Election Commission, positioning it for a dominant share of seats in the newly created 145-member unicameral parliament, called the Kurultai. Six smaller parties cleared the threshold for representation: Auyl with 6.26%, Respublica with 5.56%, Ak Zhol with 5.21%, the National Social Democratic Party with 5.11%, the People’s Party of Kazakhstan with 3.11%, and the Baytaq Green Party with 1.07%. Roughly 2.5% of voters chose the “against all” option.
Sunday’s vote was Kazakhstan’s first parliamentary election held under a new constitution that took effect July 1, replacing the country’s former two-chamber parliament — a Senate and a Mazhilis — with the single-chamber Kurultai. All seven parties on the ballot were government-registered organizations; no independent or opposition candidates were permitted to run.
Adilet was formed in April by senior aides to Tokayev and quickly absorbed Amanat, the country’s dominant ruling party for nearly three decades under both Tokayev and his predecessor, Nursultan Nazarbayev. The rebrand follows a broader effort by Tokayev to distance the political system from the Nazarbayev era, including a decision this month stripping the former president of his formal right to weigh in publicly on foreign policy.
Tokayev, a former Soviet diplomat and senior United Nations official who has led Kazakhstan since 2019, has balanced relations with Russia, China and Western governments. Asked Sunday whether he intended to seek another presidential term, he said only that he had the legal right to do so and might offer a clearer answer next year. The new parliament is expected to convene for its first session within 30 days of the final results being certified.
