Elections Showed Citizens’ Active Involvement in the Process of Governing the State

Adil Dzhunusov

Doctor of Political Sciences, Professor

The country is in the process of political system reset. The absolute dominance of the pro-government party is becoming a thing of the past.

The elections have been held on the basis of new legislation, both actually, on elections (the introduction of a mixed system of both party lists and single-mandate districts), and on parties (lowering the threshold). Thanks to liberalization of legislation we see the expansion of political participation of both parties and political activists, independent citizens of the country.
According to the results of elections to Mazhilis six parties are elected, which gives room for rotation, they can unite into blocs, unions and oppose to anti-people laws, which may suddenly be adopted in the Parliament.

The elections were held transparently. A strong struggle was observed in the single-mandate districts. The televised debates showed that each party has its own niche. For example, Aq Jol has its voters - industrialists and entrepreneurs. The Auyl party also knows its audience. The Amanat party is a universal party.

One important circumstance makes me glad. The Election Law was amended to include a provision on the recall of deputies. If a candidate has not performed well, we can recall his mandate. I think this is one of the essential manifestations of democratization. It's not like before, you were elected once and served until the end of your term in silence. Now you have to really work, there will be a tough demand for every word and action.

The main surprise was the fact that the Respublica Party got almost 9% of the votes. It is a completely young structure and such high figures. Although in the history of international political science there was an example in Italy when Berlusconi's party also received a high percentage of votes. But there the role of high technology worked. In our case, perhaps it is the cumulative effect of novelty, of the party's activity in social networks.

The president did not just initiate a course to democratize the country, but also took decisive steps. In essence, the political system with super-presidential power has been dismantled. So far, everything is going in a constructive direction. But the president should have good assistants to implement all the plans. Especially in the readjustment of the socio-economic system. That's another matter. The Government has resigned, we are waiting for a qualitatively renewed and efficient Cabinet of Ministers.
Kazakhstan, with its vast territory and rich natural resources should immediately opt for industrialization, not to remain a raw materials appendage. We only produce, but we don't manufacture; our industry is export-oriented. We do not have our own giant refineries to process the same oil.

The new government should pay close attention to young people. It is necessary to support them socially and economically, they are our future, we need to provide them with land to build housing. All this will have a multiplier effect. After all, young people will start looking for building materials to build their own homes. In our country, these moments are a little bit lame. Young people can not settle on their native land, because bureaucracy and corruption are everywhere, they can not get through to officials. And secondly, everything is expensive, there is a desire to help develop the economy, to buy something of their own, but there is not enough financial resources. In this sense, it is necessary to reconsider all kinds of support for the younger generation. These distortions must be urgently eliminated and corrected. After all, tomorrow it may be irrevocably late. And here are the important words of President Tokayev, which he said on March 21 at the celebration of Nauryz, "a completely renewed political system will give a powerful impetus to the development of our state. The reforms being implemented open the way to economic growth and increased incomes of the population. Reforms will definitely be continued.
The society is waiting, and I want to express confidence that change is inevitable. The wind of change is already blowing. The current reforms, carried out in just one year, have laid the groundwork for all of this. But a lot depends on us. We need to rethink all of our values.

I really hope for good and constructive changes in our country. I really want to believe that the current deputies will meet all expectations and expectations of the people.

Source: NIKA Group Perspective Research Center