2015 Kazakh presidential election

Early presidential elections were held in Kazakhstan on 26 April 2015, having been originally scheduled for 2016.[1] The result was a victory for long-term incumbent President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Nur Otan, who received 97.7% of the vote, winning a fifth term in office.[2]

2015 Kazakh presidential election

26 April 2015
Turnout	95.21% 5.22 pp
Nominee Nursultan Nazarbayev Turgyn Syzdyqov Party Nur Otan QKHP Popular vote 8,833,250 145,756 Percentage 97.75% 1.61%
President before election Nursultan Nazarbayev Nur Otan Elected President Nursultan Nazarbayev Nur Otan

Background

On 14 February 2015, the People's Assembly unanimously voted on the initiative to move presidential elections forward from 2016 to 2015. One motivation was that a snap election would help the development of the country; another one was that it is a disadvantage to hold both presidential and parliamentary elections in the same year.[3] On 18 February, the Mazhilis unanimously asked President Nursultan Nazarbayev to move the elections.[4] On 19 February, the Senate followed. In the first vote, there was one vote against the initiative. The senators were asked to vote again, and the second vote was unanimous. The first vote was officially explained as a technical error.[5]

On 25 February 2015 Nazarbayev signed a decree scheduling the presidential elections for 26 April. He also confirmed that he would run.[1]

Candidates

• Nursultan Nazarbayev – incumbent President of Kazakhstan, leader of Nur Otan
• Turgyn Syzdyqov – Communist People's Party of Kazakhstan candidate
• Abelgazi Kusainov – independent candidate, incumbent chairman of the Federation of Labor Unions

Conduct

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) criticised the election, saying that "there is a lack of a credible opposition in the country." It also said that "[v]oters were not offered a genuine choice between political alternatives," and that "[t]here were significant restrictions to the freedom of expression, as well as to the media environment."[6]

Results

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Nursultan Nazarbayev	Nur Otan	8,833,250	97.75
	Turgyn Syzdyqov	Communist People's Party	145,756	1.61
	Abelgazi Kusainov	Independent	57,718	0.64
Invalid/blank votes			54,196	–
Total			9,090,920	100
Registered voters/turnout			9,547,864	95.21
Source: CEC

References

1. "Н.Назарбаев назначил внеочередные выборы Президента РК на 26 апреля 2015 года" (in Russian). BNews. 25 February 2015. Archived from the original on 9 July 2015. Retrieved 28 February 2015.
2. Kazakh leader gains crushing election victory BBC News, 27 April 2015
3. "Совет АНК предлагает провести досрочные президентские выборы в Казахстане" (in Russian). Kazakhstansksya Pravda. 14 February 2015. Retrieved 28 February 2015.
4. "Мажилис обратился к Президенту РК с просьбой поддержать инициативу о проведении внеочередных выборов" (in Russian). BNews. 18 February 2015. Archived from the original on 25 February 2015. Retrieved 28 February 2015.
5. Tashkinbayev, Renat (19 February 2015). "Сенаторы просят Назарбаева дать согласие на проведение внеочередных президентских выборов" (in Russian). Tengri News. Retrieved 28 February 2015.
6. Solovyov, Dmitry (2015-04-27). "Kazakh voters had only limited choice in election: OSCE". Reuters. Retrieved 2015-04-27.