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Kazakh president dissolves parliament, calls for snap election in March

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev's decision comes a year after the deadly riots that killed 238 people.

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Tokayev said the Central Electoral Commission and the General Prosecutor's Office will control the observation of the elections, their transparency and fairness, as the electoral process will be closely monitored by domestic and international observers.

Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has dissolved the Central Asian country's lower house of parliament and set an early election for March 19.

The presidential announcement comes on Thursday, a year after the deadly riots that killed 238 people in January 2022.

"On 19 January 2023 the head of state by decree dissolved the Majilis of Kazakhstan's parliament," the presidency said in a statement.

It added that he scheduled a snap parliamentary election for March 19.

The extraordinary voting for deputies of the Majilis will be held on March 19, while the election of deputies to the maslikhats, local representative bodies elected by the people of a region, will be scheduled by the Central Election Commission.

Tokayev also said 70 percent of the deputies of the Majilis will be elected from party lists, while 30 percent will be from single-mandate constituencies.

Voting for maslikhats of regions and cities of significance will also be held based on a mixed electoral system.

'New era'

He also said the Central Electoral Commission and the General Prosecutor's Office will control the observation of the elections, their transparency and fairness, as the electoral process will be closely monitored by domestic and international observers.

“We have entered a new era in the development of Kazakhstan. The country is undergoing a dynamic and comprehensive renewal process. These elections will become the embodiment of the changes taking place in society and will give a powerful impetus to the further modernization of our political system,” he added.

He also dissolved the vast country's local legislatures.

The move is in line with a 2022 constitutional reform after three decades of Tokayev's predecessor Nursultan Nazarbayev in power. The octogenarian strongman resigned in 2019.

Tokayev was re-elected in November, winning 80 percent of the votes after a campaign criticised for its lack of competition.

He promised to create a "New Kazakhstan" that he said would be fairer and to reform "all the main institutions of power".

But economic difficulties and authoritarian tendencies have remained under his leadership.

Kazakhstan has sought to maintain a balancing act in its ties with the West and Moscow since Russia started to attack Ukraine in February last year.

It has not joined international sanctions on Moscow, but the offensive has strained historically close ties, and Tokayev has publicly criticised Russia's military presence in eastern Ukraine.