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Republic of Kazakhstan: Presidential Election December 2005

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Republic of Kazakhstan: Presidential Election December 2005 REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN: PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION DECEMBER 2005 Report by Knut Arne Strømme NORDEM Report 07/2006 Copyright: the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights/NORDEM and (author(s)). NORDEM, the Norwegian Resource Bank for Democracy and Human Rights, is a programme of the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights (NCHR), and has as its main objective to actively promote international human rights. NORDEM is jointly administered by NCHR and the Norwegian Refugee Council. NORDEM works mainly in relation to multilateral institutions. The operative mandate of the programme is realised primarily through the recruitment and deployment of qualified Norwegian personnel to international assignments which promote democratisation and respect for human rights. The programme is responsible for the training of personnel before deployment, reporting on completed assignments, and plays a role in research related to areas of active involvement. The vast majority of assignments are channelled through the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. NORDEM Report is a series of reports documenting NORDEM activities and is published jointly by NORDEM and the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights. Series editor: Siri Skåre Series consultants: Hege Mørk, Lisa Kirkengen, Christian Boe Astrup The opinions expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher. ISSN: 1503—1330 ISBN 10: 82-8158-021-6 ISBN 13: 978-82-8158-021-3 NORDEM Report is available online at: http://www.humanrights.uio.no/forskning/publ/publikasjonsliste.html Preface In response to an invitation from the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) deployed an Election Observation Mission (EOM) for the 4 December 2005 presidential election. A Needs Assessment Mission (NAM) was undertaken in 13-17 September 2005, recommending an EOM to be established to observe the upcoming presidential election. The mission included a core team of 14 election experts based in Astana and Almaty and 32 Long-Term Observers (LTOs) deployed to 16 regions of Kazakhstan. The OSCE ODIHR mission was headed by Ambassador Audrey Glover of the United Kingdom. On Election Day, the EOM deployed some 411 short-term observers including 45 parliamentarians from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, 7 from Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly (PACE), and 16 observers from the European Parliament. Observers came from a total of 43 OSCE participating States. The EOM observed voting throughout the Republic of Kazakhstan in approximately 2,000 polling stations out of a total of 9,580, and counting was observed in some 165 polling stations. The EOM was also present in 112 District Election Commissions to observe the tabulation of results. The most important domestic observer groups were the Republican Network of Independent Monitors (RNIM) and the League of Kazakshtani Voters. In addition, the International Association for Election and Democracy (Commonwealth of Independent States) had presence in all regions. Also other national observer groups were present during Election Day. Bjørg Hope Galtung and Knut Arne Strømme were recruited by NORDEM to the EOM as LTOs. Hope Galtung and Strømme were deployed in the oblasts (regions) of Oskemen and Karaganda, respectively. In addition, NORDEM recruited four short term observers (STOs): Lars Glans, Ulla Backlund, Jostein Hoel, and Elisabeth Salvesen. These STOs were deployed in the oblasts of Atyrau, Karaganda, Kostanai and Petropavl. The information in this report is based on reports released by the EOM in connection with the 4 December 2005 presidential election in Kazakhstan and on the personal observations of the Norwegian observers deployed in the country. All opinions in the report are the author’s responsibility and do not necessarily reflect the view of the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights. Overall, the findings of the Norwegian observers correspond with the main findings of the OSCE/ODIHR EOM. The Norwegian Centre for Human Rights / NORDEM University of Oslo April 2006 Contents Introduction ............................................................................................................................1 Political Background..............................................................................................................1 The Legislative Framework...................................................................................................3 The Electoral Administration ................................................................................................4 Electronic Voting...............................................................................................................5 Voter and Civic Education ................................................................................................6 Voter Registration..............................................................................................................6 Candidate registration........................................................................................................7 The Election Campaign .........................................................................................................8 The Media...............................................................................................................................9 Domestic and International Observers............................................................................... 11 Observation on the Polling Day ......................................................................................... 11 Election Day Observation Report from STO Lars Glans ............................................. 12 Election Day Observation Report from STO Ulla Backlund ....................................... 13 Election Day Observation Report from STO Jostein Hoel........................................... 14 Election Day Observation Report from STO Elisabeth Salvesen ................................ 15 The Review of Complaints Process ................................................................................... 16 Conclusions ......................................................................................................................... 17 Comments on the Election Observation Mission .............................................................. 18 Appendices .......................................................................................................................... 19 List of Candidates ........................................................................................................... 19 Results ............................................................................................................................. 20 Map of Country KAZAKHSTAN: PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION - 2005 1 Introduction The presidential election on 4 December 2005 was the second multi-candidate election in the Republic of Kazakhstan since independence in 1991. The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) observed the election.1 Generally the Norwegian LTOs and STOs observed the same phenomena and shortcomings as their colleagues in the EOM and concur with the general findings and the conclusions of the EOM as presented in its reports. Five candidates were registered; Mr. Yerassyl Abylkasymov, Mr. Alikhan Baimenov, Mr. Mels Yeleussizov, Mr. Nursultan Nazarbayev and Mr. Zharmakhan Tuyakbai. A number of significant shortcomings during the election campaign limited the possibility for a meaningful competition between the candidates. The election process was administered in accordance with an election law that was amended before and after the 2004 parliamentary elections. While some amendments represented significant progress, there remains a need for further improvement. The election law and laws regulating freedom of assembly and expression have not been amended to take into account OSCE/ODIHR recommendations made after the 2004 amendments. The Central Election Commission (CEC) continued to introduce e-voting, first employed in the 2004 parliamentary election, in a gradual manner in an attempt to build public confidence. E-voting was offered as an option in 15 per cent of the polling stations, in addition to the possibility to vote by paper ballot. Voting was conducted in a generally calm atmosphere. However, instances of multiple, proxy, and group or family voting, violations of the secrecy of the vote, ballot box stuffing and failure to seal ballot boxes properly were observed. The official voter turnout was 76.78 per cent. The incumbent president, Mr. Nazarbayev, won the election receiving 91.15 % of the votes cast. Political Background The Republic of Kazakhstan is the ninth largest country in the world, covering a territory of 2 717 306 square kilometers. It is bordered by Russia to the North, by China in the East and by Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgystan to the South. The Republic of Kazakhstan is divided into fourteen regions called oblasts, two cities with special status (Astana, the capital, and Almaty), 84 cities, 160 districts (rayyouns), ten city districts, 200 towns and 2 150 rural settlements. In an otherwise politically unstable region, Kazakhstan has remained a peaceful society with no open ethnic conflicts. There are more than a hundred different ethnic groups 1 ODIHR’s reports are available on http://www.osce.org/odihr-elections/16471.html KAZAKHSTAN: PRESIDENTIAL
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