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Kazakhstan
Women in decision-making positions
30%
Members of local deliberative bodies are women (998 elected women)
No woman is Head of State/Government
27%
Parliamentarians are women
11%
Ministers are women

Government organization

Kazakhstan is a unitary republic with two spheres of government: central and local.

One tier of central government and one or two tiers of local government.
Central government
  • Head of State: The President of the Republic is directly elected by voters.
  • Head of Government: The Prime Minister is appointed by the President of the Republic, after receiving the consent and approval of the Majilis.
  • Legislative body: Parliament is a bicameral legislature, with an upper house (the Senate) and a lower house (the Majilis). In the Senate, 15 members are appointed by the President of the Republic and 32 are elected by the sub-national deliberative bodies. In the Majilis, 98 members are directly elected by voters and nine members are elected by the directly elected members of the Majilis.
  • Executive body: The Government is composed of the Prime Minister and ministers proposed by the Prime Minister to be appointed by the President of the Republic.
Local government
  • Organization: Local government is organized into one or two tiers. In the single-tiered system of local government, there are the two cities of republic significance, the City of Almaty and the City of Nur-Sultan. In the two-tiered system of local government, there is an upper tier of 14 regional-level local government units and a lower tier of 38 cities of regional significance and 177 district-level local government units.
  • Competencies: Local government is responsible for approving plans, the local budget, and social and economic programs for the development of the territory, managing public property, and adopting decisions and resolutions.

Overview of local government

Local government composition
Regional-level government

Deliberative body: The regional maslikhat (in regions), the Almaty maslikhat (in the City of Almaty), and the Nur-Sultan maslikhat (in the City of Nur-Sultan) are composed of 50 elected members. A representative of the maslikhat is elected by and from the maslikhat to preside over it; the representative is not vested with executive powers.

Executive body: An akim is directly elected to be the executive at the regional level of government.

District and city-level government

Deliberative body: City maslikhats are composed of up to 30 elected members; district maslikhats are composed of up to 25 elected members. A representative of the maslikhat is elected by and from the maslikhat to preside over it; the representative is not vested with executive powers.

Executive body: An akim is directly to be the executive at the district/city level of government.

Local government elections
Electoral system

Electoral system for deliberative bodies: proportional representation

  • Deputies of maslikhats shall be elected by party lists nominated by political parties in a territorial constituency. There is a 5% threshold to the obtention of seats.
  • The order of distribution of deputy mandates shall be determined by the governing body of the relevant branch (representative office) of a political party from among the candidates included in the party list no later than five days from the date of publication of the election results.

Electoral system for executive bodies: majority/plurality (first-past-the-post)

Source: Law on Elections, 1995 (amended through 2020), articles 9, 21 and 111-1

Quotas

Gender quotas: Legislated candidate quotas, sanctions  

  • In each constituency-based list, the number of women and persons under the age of twenty-nine must be at least thirty percent of the total number of candidates.
  • Lists that violate the rules of submission will not be registered. They have seven days to appeal to a higher election commission.

Additional quotas: Youth

  • In each constituency-based list, the number of women and persons under the age of twenty-nine must be at least thirty percent of the total number of candidates.
  • Lists that violate the rules of submission will not be registered. They have seven days to appeal to a higher election commission.

Source: Law on Elections, 1995 (amended through 2021), article 104

Term of elections
  • Term length: 5 years
  • Last local elections: 2021
  • Next local elections: 2026
Electoral management body

Central Election Commission; territorial election commissions; precinct election commissions

National legal framework on local government
National legal framework
  • Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan, 1995 (amended through 2019);
  • Law on Local Government and Self-Government, 2001 (amended through 2022);
  • Law on Elections, 1995 (amended through 2021).
Constitutional provisions on local government

There are constitutional provisions that establish local government in Kazakhstan. According to Articles 86 and 87 of the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan of 1995 (amended through 2019), “local representative bodies - maslikhats - shall express the will of the population of respective administrative-territorial units and with regard to the common public interests shall determine the measures needed for its realization and control their implementation. Local executive bodies shall be a part of a unified system of the executive bodies of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and ensure conduct of the general state policy of the executive power in conjunction with the interests and development needs of the respective territory.”

Legislative provisions on local government

Parliament is responsible for establishing the national legal framework on local government. The key piece of legislation which regulates local government is the Law on Local Government and Self-Government of 2001 (amended through 2020), which ultimately regulates the relations in the field of local government and self – government and determines the competence, organization, procedure of activity of local representative and executive bodies as well as the legal status of deputies of Maslikhats.

Sources:

1. UN Women: Data on share of women in local government as of 1 January 2023.

2. UN Women: Information on Head of State and Government as of 3 October 2023.

3. Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU): Data on share of women in the single/lower chamber of parliament as of 1 January 2023.

4. IPU and UN Women: Data on share of women in ministerial positions as of 1 January 2023.

5. Information on local government organization as of 1 January 2022.