Kazakhstan’s parliament is preparing to pass an electoral code that supporters of President Nursultan Nazarbayev portray as proof of their commitment to holding transparent elections

Though the bill contains important concessions to opposition forces, the law, on the whole, appears to safeguard government interests. After sifting through over 600 proposed changes to the electoral code, a joint session of parliament approved the second reading of the revised election law on February 20. A proposal for the introduction of electronic voting in certain regions prompted the postponement of a final vote on the bill. That vote is now expected on March 15. The new electoral code will be in place for parliamentary elections scheduled for later this year. A large share of attention has been devoted to an amendment covering the composition of local election commissions. International organizations, opposition groups and, of late, Nazarbayev supporters have argued that political parties should have a larger role on the commissions. Under the proposed law, each commission would comprise seven members, with political parties being limited to one deputy each. While the provision appears to provide for a more even-handed oversight process, one critical drawback remains. Kazakhstan already has nine registered parties and more are expected to enter the political arena in the coming months. That means some political parties will not have representation on local election commissions. A system for determining commission representation has yet to be worked out. Many opposition political activists believe the discrepancy between the number of commission slots and the number of parties will enable the Nazarbayev administration to exclude its bitterest political foes from local election commissions. At a news conference in Almaty on February 18, representatives of Ak Zhol, a moderate opposition party, and Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DCK), the country’s largest reform movement, repeated earlier complaints that government pressure on parliament had prevented opposition proposals from gaining a fair hearing.