Kazakhstan - November 2023

Three towns and 42 regional districts held gubernatorial elections for the first time in Kazakhstan’s history on 5 November. The “pilot” election process was the second and largest since the electoral code was changed to allow for direct elections in May 2021. The contested districts represent about eight per cent of the country’s population and turnout was officially 62.79 per cent. Local media and analysts reported that independent candidates were prevented from running and of numerous election and post-election irregularities. The ruling Amanat party won 37 of 45 races, and only two winners were not previously serving appointed officials. Ten of the 249 candidates were women, none of whom were elected.

Sources: Central Asian Bureau for Analytical Reporting, The Diplomat, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

The murder of a 31-year-old woman in a restaurant by her husband, the country’s former National Economy Minister, caused a national outcry over Kazakhstan’s long-standing issues with domestic violence. In addition to media attention and calls from human rights activists to criminalize domestic violence and abuse, a ruling Amanat party MP proposed criminalizing all forms of violence against women and children to be enforced by a specially-created agency, and President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev publicly instructed leading justice officials to give the case special attention. Official statistics show that about 400 women die annually from domestic violence, and cases are rarely investigated by law enforcement.

Sources: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Human Rights Watch, Vlast.kz