Elections in Kazakhstan preserve the old parliament

Parliamentary elections were held in Kazakhstan last Sunday. The events in Ukraine seriously scared the Kazakhs, and, in the opinion of the majority, it is Nazarbayev and his team who can rule out the possibility of such events in Kazakhstan.

According to the exit poll, the results did not bring any surprises and will not lead to noticeable changes in the balance of power and politics of the country. Three out of six parties that participated in the elections, the ruling presidential party Nur Otan, the Communist People's Party of Kazakhstan (KNPK) and Ak Zhol, which were represented in the previous convocation of parliament, crossed the 7% threshold required to enter parliament.

This result was quite expected both in the country itself and by foreign experts. It is well known that President Nursultan Nazarbayev and his team in Kazakhstan traditionally enjoy tremendous support from the population, which only grows from year to year. The president and his party have traditionally gained the majority of votes since Kazakhstan gained independence, and in last year's presidential elections, 97.75 percent of voters cast their votes for the incumbent.

However, the current convocation of deputies will have to work in more difficult economic conditions, given the low prices for oil and other raw materials, which are the main source of income for the budget of Kazakhstan, as well as the economic crisis in Russia, the main trading partner. This means that, perhaps, the new parliament of this country will have to look for additional sources of budget replenishment and ways of saving.