2005 Kazakh presidential election

Presidential elections were held in Kazakhstan on 4 December 2005. Incumbent President Nursultan Nazarbayev, in power since 1989, sought and won a 3rd term against four other candidates. Opposition candidates were allowed some access to the mass media, but this was still restricted. According to western election observers, opposition candidates also suffered considerable harassment. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) criticized the elections, calling them unfair, but noted improvements.

2005 Kazakh presidential election

4 December 2005
Turnout	76.8% 10.2 pp
Nominee Nursultan Nazarbayev Zharmakhan Tuyakbay Party Otan EQU Popular vote 6,147,517 445,934 Percentage 91.15% 6.61%
Results by region
President before election Nursultan Nazarbayev Otan Elected President Nursultan Nazarbayev Otan

Background

On 22 June 2000, the Constitutional Council ruled that the President Nursultan Nazarbayev who was reelected in 1999 for second term, was in fact serving his first term due to the newly adopted Kazakhstan Constitution in 1995, which happened before his reelection bid. As a result, Nazarbayev was eligible to run for de-facto third term.[1]

Prominent Kazakh politician, Zharmakhan Tuyakbay, resigned as the Chair of the Mazhilis on 14 October 2004 after accusing the government of rigging the 2004 legislative elections.[2] The following month, he joined the opposition by becoming the chairman of the Coordinating Council of Democratic Forces of Kazakhstan on 23 November 2004 where he worked in drafting the new Kazakh Constitution.[3] On 20 March 2005, Tuyakbay became the chairman of newly created political movement bloc For a Just Kazakhstan and was nominated as candidate for the election which was supposed to be held in December 2006.[4][5] However in June 2005, it was announced that a snap election would be held in December 2005.[6]

Zamanbek Nurkadilov, described as the leading figure of the opposition, was unable to take part, having died shortly before the election. A former mayor of Almaty and government minister, Nurkadilov had joined the opposition. He was found shot dead in November, shortly after reportedly saying that he would go public with documents proving government corruption. Near his body was "a pillow pierced by bullets that may have been used as a silencer". The official cause of death was presented as suicide, with a report stating that Nurkadilov had shot himself twice in the chest and then once in the head.[7][8][9]

Results

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Nursultan Nazarbayev	Otan	6,147,517	91.15
	Zharmakhan Tuyakbay	Coalition for a Just Kazakhstan	445,934	6.61
	Alikhan Baimenov	Ak Zhol Democratic Party	108,730	1.61
	Erasyl Abilqasymov	Communist People's Party	23,252	0.34
	Mels Eleusizov	Tabighat	18,834	0.28
Total			6,744,267	100.00
Valid votes			6,744,267	98.15
Invalid/blank votes			127,304	1.85
Total votes			6,871,571	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			8,949,199	76.78
Source: Embassy of Kazakhstan in the United Kingdom

Reactions

Onalsyn Zhumabekov, Chairman of Kazakhstan's Central Election Commission, declared the election valid. About 1,600 observers monitored the election, including 465 from the influential Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

Bruce George, coordinator for observers from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, was highly critical of the election: "Regrettably, despite some efforts which were undertaken to improve the process, the authorities did not exhibit sufficient political will to hold a genuinely good election."

The OSCE has gone on record noting the following issues with the election "Unauthorized persons interfering in polling stations, cases of multiple voting, ballot box stuffing and pressure on students to vote were observed during voting and during the count, observers saw tampering with result protocols and a wide range of procedural violations."

Nazarbayev's main challenger, Zharmakhan Tuyakbay, refused to concede the race. He called for the Supreme Court of Kazakhstan to annul the election results by alleged voter fraud that was committed by the Central Election Commission.[10][11] However the court found no violations and as result, Tuyakbay's claims were dismissed on 23 December 2005.[12]

References

1. Radchenko, Sergey; Rakhmetov, Baurzhan (2020-08-06). "Putin Is Ruling Russia Like a Central Asian Dictator". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 2020-10-30.
2. КАМЗИЕВА, Гульмира (2004-10-23). "Туякбай – не заместитель президента, и уже – не заместитель председателя партии". Радио Азаттык (in Russian). Retrieved 2020-10-17.
3. "Жармахан Туякбай ушел в оппозицию". zonakz.net (in Russian). 2004-11-24. Retrieved 2020-10-17.
4. "Жармахан Туякбай выдвинут как единый кандидат в президенты РК от демократических сил | Номад | 22.03.2005". nomad.su (in Russian). 2005-03-22. Retrieved 2020-10-17.
5. "Kazakh Opposition Names Challenger To Nazarbaev". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. 2005-03-20. Retrieved 2020-10-17.
6. "Партия Отан мобилизует свои силы | Номад | 29.06.2005". nomad.su (in Russian). 2005-06-29. Retrieved 2020-10-17.
7. "Kazakh Opposition Figure's Death Ruled Suicide", Radio Free Europe, 29 November 2005
8. "Kazakhstan opposition member slain", New York Times, November 13, 2011
9. "'Election' présidentielle au Kazakhstan", Euronews, 3 April 2011
10. "Preliminary Results Give Kazakh President Landslide Win". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. 2005-12-05. Retrieved 2020-10-17.
11. "Kazakh election condemned". www.aljazeera.com. 2005-12-05. Retrieved 2020-10-17.
12. "Верховный суд отказал Туякбаю в удовлетворении иска к ЦИК РК | Номад | 26.12.2005". nomad.su (in Russian). 2005-12-26. Retrieved 2020-10-17.