BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 21. Kazakh President
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has urged citizens, particularly young
people, to participate in the elections to the Kurultai, the
country's new unicameral parliament.


According to the Kazakh president's press service, Tokayev made
the call in an address to the nation ahead of the vote.


"Participation in elections is the highest expression of the
people's will, an expression of civic responsibility and
involvement in the fate of the Motherland. I urge all citizens,
especially young people, to participate in the elections and
contribute to Kazakhstan's further successful development," he
said.


Tokayev said the first electoral campaign for the Kurultai had
been substantive, open, competitive and conducted in a civilized
manner.


According to the president, during meetings with voters, media
campaigns, nationwide televised debates and discussions on social
media, political parties presented their programs and arguments.
Citizens had an opportunity to assess the parties' views on the
country's future.


Tokayev said the election campaign had demonstrated a shift in
the public agenda, with ideas of development and progress now
firmly at its center. New faces and ideas had emerged, he said,
describing this as an important sign of political renewal.


The president expressed confidence that professionals and
patriots would be elected to the Kurultai.







The new legislature, he said, should serve as a common platform
for constructive views and maintain a high pace of further
modernization of the country.


Kazakhstan will hold elections to the new unicameral parliament,
the Kurultai, on Aug. 23, 2026. Tokayev signed a decree setting the
election date on July 1, 2026.


Previously, Kazakhstan's legislature was a bicameral Parliament
consisting of the Senate, the upper house, and the Mazhilis, the
lower house. Following the entry into force of the new Constitution
on July 1, 2026, the country's parliamentary system was
transformed, replacing the bicameral Parliament with a unicameral
Kurultai.


The Kurultai is the country's highest representative body and
exercises legislative power.


The Kurultai will consist of 145 deputies elected for five-year
terms from party lists in a single nationwide electoral district
through universal, equal and direct voting by secret ballot.


Seven political parties are participating in the elections: the
Adilet Party, the Nationwide Social Democratic Party, the Baitak
Green Party, the People's Party of Kazakhstan, the Auyl People's
Democratic Patriotic Party, the Democratic Party of Kazakhstan Ak
Zhol and Respublica.