A meeting of the Central Election Commission was held on the 

organisation of pre-election debates and discussions, as well as accreditation 

of international observers

 

On November 8 this year, a meeting of the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan was held under the chairmanship of Nurlan Abdirov. 

The following issues were considered at the meeting: 

1. On the issues of organising and holding pre-election television debates and discussions at the early elections of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, scheduled for November 20, 2022; 

2. On the withdrawal of accreditation of observers of an international organisation for the early elections of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, scheduled for November 20, 2022;  

3. On the accreditation of observers of international organisations and foreign states for the early elections of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, scheduled for November 20, 2022. 

Opening the meeting, Chairman of the CEC of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nurlan Abdirov, dwelled on the timing of the introduction of certain regulatory provisions of the Constitutional Act “On Elections in the Republic of Kazakhstan.” 

“The law reflects recent constitutional changes, according to which the President is now being elected for a term of 7 years no more than once. The regulatory provision on a one-time seven-year presidential term shall enter into force upon the expiration of 10 calendar days after the first official publication, i.e. November 17 this year. 

Thus, the term of office of the President of Kazakhstan elected during the upcoming nation-wide vote on November 20 will be calculated according to the new constitutional regulatory provision,” Nurlan Abdirov said. 

The Chairman of the CEC of the Republic of Kazakhstan dwelled on other regulatory provisions of the Constitutional Act, which are put into effect after 60 calendar days, from January 1, 2023 and 2024. Nurlan Abdirov emphasised that since the regulatory provisions for accreditation of public associations and non-profit organisations are put into effect after 60 calendar days after their official publication, they will not be applied during the current election campaign. 

Thus, the CEC Chairman emphasised that the current election campaign for early presidential elections is being conducted in line with the requirements of the current Constitutional Act on Elections, in other words, according to the rules and algorithms known to all participants in the electoral process. 

Noting that the main task is to ensure 100% readiness of the electoral bodies of the entire electoral infrastructure for holding early elections of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, scheduled for November 20, 2022, he drew attention of the commission members to the need to ensure the accessibility and convenience of voting premises not only for the voters, but also for observers, proxies and media representatives. 

Anastassiya Schegortsova, a member of the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan, spoke on the first issue of the agenda. She said that according to the Rules and conditions for holding pre-election debates, approved by the Resolution of the CEC of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Central Election Commission agrees on the Regulations and approves the list of participants in the pre-election debates. 

According to the regulations, pre-election debates and discussions of presidential candidates will be held in four rounds. In line with each round, the debate participants will have opportunity to present their electoral programs, ask opponents, answer voters’ questions, and address the electorate. 

Candidates for participation in the pre-election debates and discussions were presented by the election headquarters of candidates for the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The participants of the TV debates are: 

1) Karakat Abden; 

2) Nurlan Auesbayev; 

3) Zhiguli Dairabayev; 

4) Meiram Kazhyken; 

5) Yerlan Koshanov; 

6) Saltanat Tursynbekova. 

As part of her report, Anastassiya Schegortsova said that the debate will be held live on November 11 at 20:00 on the Khabar TV channel. 

In response to a clarifying question from member of the CEC of the Republic of Kazakhstan Sabila Mustafina, she dwelled in detail on each round of debates and discussions. 

Thus, the first round is “Presentation of the Electoral Program,” in which each participant will make speeches in order to present their electoral program. Each participant has 3 minutes to present. 

The second round is a “Discussion Session,” in which participants ask their opponents two questions each and answer two questions. 30 seconds are given to formulate the question, each participant is given 2 minutes to answer. 

Third round – “Questions from voters.” The acceptance of applications “Ask the candidate!” is open at the Khabar Agency. Voters have an opportunity to ask questions personally to any candidate. One question will be asked to each candidate. The time allowed for a response is up to 2 minutes. 

The fourth round is “Appeal to the voters,” in the final round the participants directly address the voters. 2 minutes are allotted for each presentation. The total time is at least 80 minutes. 

Mukhtar Yerman, Secretary of the CEC of the Republic of Kazakhstan, made a report on the second and third issues on the agenda. On the second issue, he said that based on the application of the Organisation of Turkic States, on the proposal of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the issue of revoking the accreditation of two international observers due to a change in the composition of the delegation was raised. 

In this regard, the Resolution of the CEC of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated October 17, 2022 No. 92/577 “On accreditation of observers of international organisations and a foreign state for the early elections of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan scheduled for November 20, 2022” was amended accordingly. 

On the third issue, Mukhtar Yerman said that in the period from November 1 to November 7, proposals were received from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan for the accreditation of observers for a number of missions: 

- 55 observers as part of the CIS Mission; 

- 34 observers from IPA CIS; 

- 19 observers from the Mission from the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation; 

- 2 observers from the Organisation of Turkic States to replace previously accredited international observers. 

Along with this, applications from 24 observers from 14 foreign states were submitted, including representatives of the central electoral bodies of Latvia, Serbia and Uzbekistan. 

A total of 134 observers were nominated for accreditation. 

In total, as of November 8, 2022, 271 observers were accredited from international organisations and foreign states, taking into account the recall of two observers from an international organisation. 

As the proposals for accreditation come in, the data on observers will be updated. Accreditation of observers of foreign states and international organisations will be carried out by the Central Election Commission until 18:00 on November 14, 2022. 

Answering a question from member of the CEC of the Republic of Kazakhstan Shavkhat Utemissov, Mukhtar Yerman said that 57 long-term international observers of the OSCE/ODIHR, the CIS and the IPA CIS are in almost all regions, including taking part in visiting workshop-meetings of the CEC. Moreover, Centres for Assistance to International Observers have been established in all regional centres and cities of republican significance. 

Based on the results of the speeches of the CEC members, the relevant resolutions of the Central Election Commission were adopted. The meeting was followed by a briefing for media representatives