Astana-Kazakhstan-January 19, 2023

Just four months after his re-election in early presidential elections

In a presidential decree, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said "I have decided to dissolve the seventh legislative body of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan" and"to schedule early elections on March 19, 2023".

In addition to the House of Representatives, in which only three parties are represented and all support Tokayev, the latter has dissolved local councils, whose members are elected by universal suffrage.

The announcement was made in line with the constitutional reform in June 2022, which is supposed to turn the page on the rule of his predecessor Nursultan Nazarbayev, which lasted three decades and ended with his resignation in 2019.

In a letter to Kazakhs published on the website of the presidency, Tokayev said he hoped that these early elections would give a "new impetus to the modernization" that began last year in this ex-Soviet republic rich in natural resources.

According to the same source, "these elections will be the last step in the reset of state institutions, to embody the formula of a strong president, an influential parliament and a responsible government".

However, economic difficulties and authoritarian reactions persist in the largest state of Central Asia

Oil-rich Kazakhstan, located at the hub of important trade routes, plunged into chaos in January when demonstrations protesting the high cost of living turned into brutally suppressed riots, killing 238 people.

At the end of November, Tokayev was re-elected president as expected, receiving more than 80 percent of the vote after a ballot criticized for a lack of competition.

When he was a candidate, Tokayev organized a campaign related to his project to create a "new Kazakhstan" with more democracy and equality.

He promised that"these elections open the door to a new era and all the main institutions of power will be reformed".

Also, he renewed his commitment to economic reforms and the" end of the monopoly of power " that Kazakhstan experienced during the three decades of Nursultan Nazarbayev's rule.

A number of reforms have been implemented, as the procedures for registering political parties have been simplified, allowing the registration of new parties in recent weeks, which now number seven, while the eligibility limit for their entry into parliament has been reduced from 7 percent to 5 percent.