Central Election Commission meeting was held on November 5

On November 5, 2020, a meeting of the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan was held.

The meeting was attended by representatives of political parties, General Prosecutor's Office, Ministries of Justice, Internal Affairs, Finance, Ministry of Healthcare, territorial election commissions in the videoconferencing mode, and representatives of the media - online.

The following issues were considered at the meeting:

1) "On admission of political parties to participate in the elections of deputies of the Mazhilis of the Parliament and deputies of maslikhats of the Republic of Kazakhstan, elected by party lists";

2) "On the procedure for nominating party lists and organizing verification of the compliance of candidates for deputies of the Mazhilis of Parliament and maslikhats of the Republic of Kazakhstan with the requirements of the legislation."

Opening the meeting, Chairman of the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan Berik Imashev said that according to the approved calendar plans, the nomination of party lists of candidates for deputies of the Mazhilis and maslikhats begins on November 10 this year. In this regard, the issue of admitting political parties to the upcoming elections is considered by the CEC before the start of this electoral stage.

Assylbek Smagulov, member of the Central Election Commission, spoke on the first issue of the agenda. He said that the right to nominate candidates for deputies of the Mazhilis of the Parliament and deputies of maslikhats, elected by party lists, belongs to political parties registered in the prescribed manner.

According to the information provided by the Ministry of Justice, six political parties are registered and operate in the Republic of Kazakhstan. To date, all political parties operate in accordance with the established procedure; the authorized bodies have no legal grounds for reorganizing or liquidating political parties.

Thus, at a meeting of the Central Election Commission, resolutions were adopted on the admission of the "Ak Zhol" Democratic Party of Kazakhstan, "Auyl" People's Democratic Patriotic Party, "Birlik" Political Party, Communist People's Party of Kazakhstan, "Nur Otan" Party, National Social Democratic Party to participate in the elections of deputies of the Mazhilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Regarding admission of political parties to the elections of deputies of maslikhats, the political parties "Ak Zhol", "Auyl", "Communist People's Party of Kazakhstan", "Nur Otan" and "National Social Democratic Party" are registered and their branches operate in 14 regions, as well as in the cities of Nur-Sultan, Almaty and Shymkent. In this regard, by decisions of the Central Election Commission, these political parties were admitted to the elections of deputies of maslikhats in all regions.

The Birlik party has branches registered and operating in 13 regions, as well as in the cities of Nur-Sultan and Almaty. Due to the absence of a branch in the city of Shymkent and the Turkestan region, the Birlik party cannot be allowed to participate in the elections of deputies to maslikhats of these regions.

In this regard, a resolution was adopted on admitting “Birlik" Political Party to participate in the elections of deputies to maslikhats, with the exception of maslikhats in Shymkent and Turkestan region.

At the same time, Berik Imashev noted that if, at the stage of nomination, the Birlik party opens and registers branches in these two regions, it will be able to get admission to the elections of deputies of maslikhats in Shymkent and Turkestan regions.

Deputy Chairman of the Central Election Commission Konstantin Petrov spoke on the second issue of the meeting.

In his report, K. Petrov informed that in accordance with the Calendar plans of the main measures for the preparation and conduct of the next elections: the nomination of deputies of the Mazhilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan, elected according to party lists, begins on November 10, 2020 and ends at 18:00 local time on November 30, 2020. Nomination of maslikhat deputies begins on November 10, 2020 and ends at 18:00 local time on December 4, 2020.

Inclusion in the party list of persons for election to the Mazhilis deputies shall be made by a majority vote of the total number of members of the supreme body of a political party - congress. Inclusion in the party list of persons for election as a deputy of the maslikhat of the corresponding administrative-territorial unit shall be made by a majority vote of the total number of members of the supreme governing body of the corresponding branch (representative office) of a political party - conference. Political parties shall not be entitled to include in party lists persons who are not members of this political party.

Also, according to the new norm, when approving party lists of candidates for deputies of the Mazhilis of Parliament, maslikhat, a political party shall include women and persons under the age of twenty-nine, in the amount of at least thirty percent of the total number of candidates.

A form of the party list shall be submitted in electronic and paper form set by the Central Election Commission decree on October 21 this year. According to the Constitutional Act on Elections, the party list of candidates for deputies of the Mazhilis of Parliament shall be submitted to the Central Election Commission.

The Central Election Commission shall check the compliance of candidates for deputies of the Mazhilis included in the party list with the requirements established by the Constitution and the Constitutional Act. In this regard, immediately after the receipt of these documents, requests shall be sent to the authorized state bodies:

1) to the Ministry of Internal Affairs - regarding confirmation of citizenship and residence of candidates for deputies of the Mazhilis of Parliament in Kazakhstan for the last ten years;

2) to the Committee on Legal Statistics and Special Records of the General Prosecutor's Office - for establishing: candidates included in the party list in a place of imprisonment; the presence of a conviction that has not been canceled and not withdrawn in the manner prescribed by law; recognition by the court of guilt in the commission of a corruption offense, recognition as legally incompetent by the court.

3) to the Ministry of Justice regarding confirmation of the registration of a political party in the manner prescribed by law.

Only one list of candidates for deputies of the Mazhilis of Parliament from one political party shall be allowed for registration, with the number of persons included in it not exceeding the established number of deputy mandates distributed among political parties by thirty percent. Registration of party lists begins on November 10, 2020 and ends at 18:00 local time on December 10, 2020.

The party list of candidates for deputies of the maslikhat shall be submitted to the relevant territorial election commission.

The relevant territorial election commission (regional, Nur-Sultan, Almaty, Shymkent, city, district) shall check the compliance of candidates included in the party list with the requirements established by the Constitution and the Constitutional Act.

In this regard, after receipt of the prescribed documents, it shall submit requests to the authorized state bodies:

1) to the territorial bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs - regarding confirmation of citizenship;

2) to the territorial bodies of the Committee on Legal Statistics and Special Records of the General Prosecutor's Office - for establishing: candidates included in the party list in a place of imprisonment; the presence of a conviction that has not been canceled and not withdrawn in the manner prescribed by law; recognition by the court in accordance with the procedure established by law of guilt in the commission of a corruption offense and corruption violation; recognition as legally incompetent by the court

3) to the territorial bodies of the Ministry of Justice in terms of confirmation of the registration of a political party in the authorized body in the manner prescribed by law; establishment of the powers of a branch (representative office) of a political party to nominate party lists at elections of deputies of the respective maslikhats.

Registration of party lists in maslikhats begins on November 10, 2020 and ends at 18:00 local time on December 10, 2020.

In accordance with the requirements of the Constitutional Act on Elections, a candidate and his (her) spouse, prior to registration, shall submit to the state revenue authorities at the place of residence declarations of income and property for the first day of the month of the beginning of the nomination period - November 1, 2020.

In this regard, the Central Election Commission, after registering the party list of candidates for deputies of the Mazhilis of Parliament, shall immediately send a request to the Ministry of Finance - for establishing reliability of information about income and property declared by the candidate and his (her) spouse.

The relevant territorial commissions shall send a request to the territorial bodies of the State Revenue Committee of the Ministry of Finance.

Summing up the results of the second issue on the agenda, Chairman of the Central Election Commission Berik Imashev stressed that political parties, being the main subjects of political competition, have gained enough experience to confidently engage in the fight for parliamentary mandates at the regional level. As of today they received admission, now they are at the stage of nomination. He noted that nomination of party lists shall take place in accordance with the legislation.

In order to ensure safety of participants in the electoral process, the Central Election Commission has agreed "Recommendations for preventing the spread of coronavirus infection COVID-19" elaborated by the Ministry of Healthcare of the Republic of Kazakhstan during the period of nomination and registration of candidates for deputies of the Mazhilis of Parliament and maslikhats of the Republic of Kazakhstan."

CEC Chairman Berik Imashev drew attention of representatives of political parties to the necessity of strict observance of these recommendations when organizing and holding events to nominate candidates for deputies.

After the meeting, a briefing for the media took place, at which members of the CEC answered questions from the media.