Lower house of Kazakh Parliament votes for early Parliament elections

Members of the Mazhilis (lower house) of the Parliament of Kazakhstan have unanimously approved an appeal to President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev on holding of early parliamentary elections during their plenary session on Wednesday.

The Mazhilis deputies voiced an appeal addressed to the President on the dissolution of the Mazhilis of the Parliament of the fifth convocation "in connection with the aggravated economic situation in the country."

"Dear Colleagues, the appeal addressed to the head of state was unanimously approved. We will now send it to the President," Speaker of Mazhilis Kabibulla Dzhakupov told the MPs.

Mazhilis of the fifth convocation was formed in January 2012. Seven political parties participated in the elections and three of them overcame a 7-percent threshold. They are the People's Democratic Party "Nur Otan" (80.99%), the Democratic Party of Kazakhstan "Ak Zhol" (7.47%), and the Communist People's Party of Kazakhstan (7.19%).

The term of office of the members of the lower house is five years. The elections will be held two months before the expiration of term, that is, at the end of 2016.

Source: akipress.com