Elections to the Almaty City Mäslihat were held on 10 January 2021 to elect 39 deputies of the Almaty City Mäslihat. This was the first time that all city deputies were elected under party-list proportional representation.
The Nur Otan won majority of 29 seats in the Almaty City Mäslihat followed by the other 3 parties.
Background In the aftermath of the 2016 City Mäslihat election, the ruling Nur Otan party members.
In 2018, the Government of Kazakhstan approved a new constitutional amendment which would allow all Mäslihat elections to be conducted through party-list proportional representation. However, the move lead for self-nominated (independent) candidates from contesting in the race as all the mäslihats (local assemblies) required its members to be affiliated registered political party.
In December 2019, the City Mäslihat during its convocation tenure unanimously voted for approval of the draft Almaty-2050 Development Strategy aimed to solve the problems in Almaty and improve lives of citizens. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in Kazakhstan, the city suffered setbacks in declining economy, investments, and an increase in inflation due to quarantine measures and lockdowns that were implemented. City councillor Qairat Qudaibergen was reported to have tested positive for COVID-19. In December 2020, during a briefing, Almaty äkim Bakhytzhan Sagintayev stated that the economy had stabilized and that it has a "potential for rapid recovery in the post-epidemic period."
Electoral system The City Mäslihat deputies are directly-elected through proportional representation for a five year term and must win the 7% electoral threshold to win any seats. If only one party manages to pass the threshold, then the other party with the second most received votes is awarded enough seats to have representations in the City Mäslihat.
Parties Five parties submitted their list to the Almaty City Territorial Election Commission, which included: NameIdeologyBranch leaderNo. 1 in party-listNo. of candidatesRegistration dateNur OtanNur OtanBig tentBakhytjan SagintayevZhansaya Abdumalik7818 November 2020AuylAuylAgrarianismMahambet HasenovMahambet Hasenov630 November 2020QHPPeople's Party of KazakhstanSocialismÄlibek ŞapenovÄlibek Şapenov149 December 2020ADALAdalEco-socialismĞani AbadanRauan Bugybaev58 December 2020Aq JolAq JolLiberalismQuandyq BisqultanovAlia Bekkujina158 December 2020
Results The Nur Otan won 68.1% of the vote, gaining a majority of 29 seats in the City Mäslihat. The other 3 contesting parties for the seats managed to enter the City Mäslihat, except for the Adal which narrowly missed the 7% electoral threshold to win any seats.
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