PRESS-RELEASE On 1 October 2014 the regular election of deputies of the Senate of Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan will be held On 1 August 2014 the Decree of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan “On calling regular election of deputies of the Senate of Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan on 1 October 2014” has been published. On the same day in the Central Communications Service at the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan the press-conference of the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan, where the Chairman and members of the CEC told about preparation to the upcoming election campaign, was held. In his speech K. Turgankulov noted that on 9 December of this year the constitutional term of office of the senators, who were elected on 4 December 2008, expires. Therefore, on 1 October one deputy of the upper house of the supreme legislative body of the country from each of 16 regions of the Republic will be elected. Election of the Senate deputies is based on the indirect suffrage by secret ballot. Indirect suffrage means that only electors – maslikhat deputies – take part at voting at the election of the Senate deputies. Accordingly, the senators are elected by maslikhat deputies, who in their turn were elected by citizens at direct elections, i.e. they legitimately represent in the Parliament the interests of the residents of the region. As the Head of the CEC noted in the world practice this scheme for the formation of one of the Houses of Parliament is rather common. Thus, of 77 states, which as our country have bicameral parliament, the upper house is formed through general elections in 21 states, by appointment in 18 states, by indirect elections in 12 countries, by combination and different variations of three aforementioned forms – in 26 countries. The term of office of deputies of the upper house of Kazakh Parliament is six years. The half of the Senate deputies is re-elected every three years. Nomination of candidates is held at the sessions of maslikhats as well as by self-nomination. Political parties and public associations have the opportunity to nominate candidates by their representatives in maslikhats. According to the Constitution and legislation a citizen of Kazakhstan, who is not younger than 30 years old, has a higher education and work experience of not less than five years as well as who resides permanently in our county for the last ten years and not less than three years in a region, which he/she represents, can be a Senate deputy. To be registered as a candidate to the Senate deputy a contender needs to be supported by not less than ten percent of the total number of deputies of all maslikhats of a region. This support is to be confirmed by collection of the corresponding amount of signatures of maslikhat deputies. A candidate to the Senate deputy before registration and after checking his/her conformity to the requirements of the Constitution and the election law as well as after checking the authenticity of signatures collected in his/her support pays an electoral fee. This year the fee is KZT 299,490. In addition, a candidate and his/her spouse before registration are obliged to submit declarations on income and property to the tax bodies at the place of his/her residence. According to the election legislation election of the Senate deputies is held on a competitive basis, i.e. the ballot-paper must include at least two candidates. In order to implement the provisions of the Decree of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan «On calling regular election of deputies of the Senate of Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan on 1 October 2014», the Central Election Commission has adopted the Schedule of main activities on preparation and conduct of this election. In accordance with this Schedule nomination of candidates will last till 31 August of this year. Registration of candidates will be held till 11 September and campaigning from 12 September till 12 p.m. of 29 September 2014. Voting, vote count and announcement of results will be held by oblasts, cities of Astana and Almaty election commissions within one day – on 1 October. The final election results must be established by the CEC not later than on 7 October 2014. In total for the purposes of holding election of deputies of the Senate of Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan KZT 136 million will be allocated from the Republican budget. Each candidate to the Senate deputy will receive means from the Republican budget for the campaigning and transport costs. In addition, each candidate can form an electoral fund, the total amount of which shall not exceed KZT 13,976,200. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the CEC will open the institute of international election observation. According to the electoral legislation the CEC administers organization and conduct of election of deputies of the Senate of Parliament. Oblasts, cities of Astana and Almaty election commission shall directly ensure holding of election. Therefore, the main organizational, informational and campaigning workload will be in the regions. The means allocated to candidates for campaigning from the Republican budget shall be provided by election commissions to finance the publication of campaign materials in local and regional mass media only. During press-conference the Head of the CEC noted that currently the CEC and involved election commissions are provided with all necessary organizational, technical and financial resources. In order to fully inform the citizens about election campaign informational video and audio clips was produced by the order of the CEC and on 1 August 2014 they will be broadcasted at the network of major republican and regional television and radio channels. In addition, informational billboards will be posted in all oblast centers, the cities of Astana and Almaty. Also K. Turgankulov informed about opening Press-Center of the CEC, which will operate permanently during preparation and conduct of election.
Posted on: Tue, 05 Aug 2014 11:11:14 +0000