Kazakh CEC announces results of parliamentary election

ASTANA, August 22 (Itar-Tass) - The Central Election Commission of
Kazakhstan announced on Monday the results of the election to the upper
house of national parliament, held on August 19.
The election was declared valid, the CEC chairman Kuandyk Turgankulov
said. All in all, 16 deputies were re-elected, half of the senators
representing country's regions. Seven senators have retained their
mandates.
All newly elected parliamentarians are heads of local executive or
representative bodies of power, as well as state organisations. There are
several representatives of commercial agencies and one temporary
unemployed person among them.
The CEC chairman said "all elected deputies of the upper house of
parliament are members of the Nur Otan People's Democratic Party".
"An average age of the elected deputies is 56.5," Turgankulov said.
According to him, the election campaign was "civilized, open and
democratic". "All participants in the election process acted within the
legal framework and in line with procedures established by the election
legislation of the country," he said.
This "is confirmed by assessments of accredited international
observers, as well observers from political parties, public and
non-governmental organisations," he added.
According to the Central Election Commission, 372 international and
domestic observers, as well as media representatives monitored the
election.
According to the national legislation, 15 senators to the upper house
are appointed by the president, and 14 regions as well as the cities of
Astana and Almaty are presented by two deputies each. These 32 senators
are elected by deputies of local representative bodies.
Senators are elected for six years, and every three years half of
deputies are re-elected. Thus, this year half of the senators representing
Kazakh regions have been re-elected.