Kazakhstan’s new Constitution entered into force on July 1, prompting President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to set August 23 as the date for parliamentary elections required under the new framework.
The Constitution, adopted in a nationwide referendum on March 15, replaces the country’s bicameral legislature with a single-chamber parliament. Tokayev signed the decree calling elections shortly after the new Basic Law took effect.
The Central Election Commission will accept candidate nominations from July 2 to July 13, with the official campaign period running from July 23 to August 22, the day of electoral silence. The newly elected parliament is expected to begin work before the start of the political season on September 1.
Last session of the old parliament
The outgoing Mazhilis and Senate held their final joint session on June 30, marking the end of Kazakhstan’s bicameral parliament after three decades.
Addressing lawmakers, Tokayev described the session as historic, saying the outgoing parliament had overseen one of the country’s most significant periods of institutional transformation, touching the economic model and the country’s social values. He said more than 300 laws had been adopted during the current convocation, including major constitutional legislation and new tax and budget codes.
Tokayev said the next parliament would focus on maintaining economic growth, reducing inflation, improving public administration, cutting bureaucracy and attracting investment, adding that the goal was to make prosperity and improved living standards “irreversible.”
Cyprus-Kazakhstan relations
Cyprus and Kazakhstan have deepened ties in recent months. President Nikos Christodoulides paid the first official visit by a Cypriot head of state to Kazakhstan in early June, travelling to Astana aboard the inaugural direct flight between Larnaca and the Kazakh capital. During the visit, Christodoulides held talks with Tokayev and signed memoranda of understanding covering education, research, culture, technology and cybersecurity.
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