The local elections campaign has barely begun and controversy has already arrived. In Uralsk, ten independent candidates have withdrawn from the race and two election observers have been arrested ahead of Kazakhstan’s early local elections.
Kazakhstan will hold early elections for its local representative bodies, the maslikhats, on November 29, the Central Election Commission announced on October 13. A total of 3,447 seats will be filled across 228 maslikhats at the regional, city and district levels. Deputies are elected by direct, secret ballot and serve five-year terms.
The pre-local election period started, which is already causing controversy, notably in the city of Uralsk.
On November 9, local outlet Umarov.news reported that ten independent candidates had withdrawn from the race in Uralsk, describing the departures as “a purge.”
According to the report, nearly half of the candidates were removed over inaccuracies in their financial disclosures: one failed to declare cashback of just over 1,000 tenge (about 2 euros), while securities were unexpectedly found in another’s assets. One candidate told reporters he had been “asked” to withdraw. The chairman of the Uralsk territorial election commission declined talking about that “situation“ on the phone.
Two days later, on November 11, two independent elections observers were detained and accused of “fraud”. Both are volunteers with the NGO Zhariya. Following the police search at their homes and office, social media posts alleged that they lived “in luxury houses with other people’s money.” The police only stated that a criminal case has been opened and investigative actions are currently underway. The criminal case was brought on the basis of statements made by two former members of Zharia, who had been expelled from the organisation on valid grounds. After being questioned by the police, both were released. At the same time, a search was also carried out at Zhariya’s office
The observers and the head of Zharyia, Bekhnur Sarzhan, viewed those detantions as aimed to prevent the organization from monitoring the upcoming vote.
Zhariya, founded to promote fair elections, was registered only on its 19th attempt . It first monitored the first presidential election won by Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, and has since observed elections for rural districts, municipalities and referendums. It also trains members of election commissions.
The group has filed several lawsuits over violations of electoral law and, according to its own reports, won rulings holding election commission chairpersons accountable. Its monitors also said that vote-counting data they recorded at polling stations cast doubt on the official results.
In recent years, representatives of the Zharia NGO have repeatedly stated that they have become the target of increased attention from law enforcement agencies and expressed concerns about possible provocations. In February, the head of the organization was notably fined for asking his Facebook page followers whether they would be independent observers at the referendum, as this was deemed an illegal poll.
