Kazakhstan’s Central Election Commission has cleared seven parties to contest Nov. 29 snap elections for local councils, after Amanat submitted a letter saying it would not run independently.
The commission announced the decision following its Oct. 13 session, reported on Oct. 14, and said the seven eligible parties are Adilet, Ak Zhol, the People’s Party of Kazakhstan, Auyl, the Nationwide Social Democratic Party, Baytaq and Respublica. Amanat’s withdrawal letter arrived before the session, and commission chairman Nurlan Abdirov said it had been formally processed. The vote will choose 3,447 deputies for 228 maslikhats, Kazakhstan’s local representative bodies.
The snap election follows President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s Oct. 12 order ending the mandates of local councils ahead of schedule. Tokayev had argued that the status of the councils needed reconsideration because most sitting deputies were elected under Amanat, which merged into Adilet in June. Adilet is among the seven parties cleared to run, so Amanat’s withdrawal does not mean the merged party is absent from the ballot.
Candidate nominations are scheduled to run from Oct. 14 to Oct. 27, ahead of election day.