Majilis asks Nazarbayev to support early presidential elections

The lower chamber of Kazakhstan's Parliament, the Majilis, has asked Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev to support the idea of holding the presidential elections ahead of time, Tengrinews reports.

The proposal to hold the presidential elections this year instead of 2016 was made by the Assembly of People of Kazakhstan on February 14. Kazakhstan's ruling party Nur Otan and other parties, such as the Patriots of Kazakhstan and the Communist Party of Kazakhstan have already declared their support to the Assembly's initiative.

“We are asking you, dear Nursultan Nazarbayev, to support the initiative of the Assembly of People of Kazakhstan and in accordance with the Article 41 of our country’s Constitution to consider holding the presidential elections early,” the Speaker of the Majilis Kabibula Dzhakupov said at the plenary session of the chamber.

MPs unanimously voted for the Assembly’s suggestion as well as for the appeal of Majilis MPs to the President requesting his support to the idea of the early presidential elections.

“I believe Assembly’s suggestion is very timely, relevant and politically correct. I personally support it. No doubt, it is a conscious response of our entire multinational society to the adverse external factors. The international crisis has been deepening around the world and the geopolitical tensions persist. All these, according to forecasts, may exacerbate further. In this context, we, Kazakhstanis, must think in a very critical, pragmatic, strategic and proactive way,” Majilis MP Sergei Diyachenko said.

He emphasised that it was very important to strengthen the unity and accord of the people of Kazakhstan. “We have already gone through a difficult global crisis. These was a powerful test of  our stability and a good experience for all the Kazakhstanis that helped us understand who we are and what we are capable of. We should be even more united around our president Nursultan Nazarbayev. We should make more efforts and apply all our knowledge to implement all the tasks set forth in the Nurly Zhol program. We will respond to the external challenges by our vigorous work for the sake of the common goal,” he said.

“We support early presidential elections, because extreme conditions emerging in the world require out-of-ordinary decisions and approaches from our country. Not only should we support the Assembly’s initiative, but also appeal to the Kazakh President to support the early presidential elections. The peak of the global crisis has not yet come. The year 2016 is expected to be even more difficult than the current one. Therefore, the later the election is held, the greater are the risks. We have seen it in many countries. We need elections to overcome the global difficulties more efficiently,” Majilis MP Irina Aronova said.

“We need early elections to once again give a new mandate of trust to our President Nursultan Nazarbayev, so he could further protect the people from the shocks and could continue his course of the large-scale modernization of Kazakhstan and lead the country into the Top 30 most developed countries of the world at this new and very difficult stage of the global complication. We need this no matter what,“ she said.

“The early presidential elections are suggested to be held in the year of the 550th anniversary of the Kazakh Khanate. This is not a mere coincidence, but a clear and straight reflection of historical continuity of our statehood and our glorious ancestors,” Majilis MP Azat Peruashev said.

Reporting by Altynai Zhumzhumina, writing by Assel Satubaldina, editing by Tatyana Kuzmina