Kazakh president calls snap parliamentary elections

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has dismissed the lower chamber of the country’s parliament and called snap parliamentary elections for March 19. He said the move was “dictated by the logic of constitutional reform.”

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev announced an early set of reforms in March 2022, just months after unrest swept the country. The changes, which were approved by voters in a June referendum, were billed as a movement towards democratizing and limiting the president’s powers, though critics have called them an attempt to strengthen Tokayev’s own power.

In September, Tokayev announced that a snap presidential election would be held, citing the need for a “new mandate of trust from the people” so that “comprehensive reforms” could be conducted. The election was held in November, and Tokayev won 80 percent of the vote.