A Polish delegation observed the elections, which took place on Sunday, March 19. The parliamentarians visited polling stations in two of Kazakhstan’s largest cities – Almaty and the capital Astana. There they took part in meetings with representatives of the election administration, experts, representatives of political parties and NGOs.
In elections to the Majilis – the lower house of Kazakhstan’s parliament – for the first time, independent candidates were allowed to run. The electoral threshold was also reduced from 7 to 5 percent.
The observation mission was attended by Chairwoman of the Delegation of the Sejm and Senate to the OSCE’s OCP Barbara Bartuś, Vice Chairwoman Agnieszka Pomaska, and Senators Kazimierz Kleina and Robert Dowhan. A total of about 80 observers from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and 30 long-term observers and experts from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) took part in the mission.
source: sejm.gov.pl
