BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 21. Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has urged citizens, particularly young people, to participate in the elections to the Kurultai, the country's new unicameral parliament.
According to the Kazakh president's press service, Tokayev made the call in an address to the nation ahead of the vote.
"Participation in elections is the highest expression of the people's will, an expression of civic responsibility and involvement in the fate of the Motherland. I urge all citizens, especially young people, to participate in the elections and contribute to Kazakhstan's further successful development," he said.
Tokayev said the first electoral campaign for the Kurultai had been substantive, open, competitive and conducted in a civilized manner.
According to the president, during meetings with voters, media campaigns, nationwide televised debates and discussions on social media, political parties presented their programs and arguments. Citizens had an opportunity to assess the parties' views on the country's future.
Tokayev said the election campaign had demonstrated a shift in the public agenda, with ideas of development and progress now firmly at its center. New faces and ideas had emerged, he said, describing this as an important sign of political renewal.
The president expressed confidence that professionals and patriots would be elected to the Kurultai.
The new legislature, he said, should serve as a common platform for constructive views and maintain a high pace of further modernization of the country.
Kazakhstan will hold elections to the new unicameral parliament, the Kurultai, on Aug. 23, 2026. Tokayev signed a decree setting the election date on July 1, 2026.
Previously, Kazakhstan's legislature was a bicameral Parliament consisting of the Senate, the upper house, and the Mazhilis, the lower house. Following the entry into force of the new Constitution on July 1, 2026, the country's parliamentary system was transformed, replacing the bicameral Parliament with a unicameral Kurultai.
The Kurultai is the country's highest representative body and exercises legislative power.
The Kurultai will consist of 145 deputies elected for five-year terms from party lists in a single nationwide electoral district through universal, equal and direct voting by secret ballot.
Seven political parties are participating in the elections: the Adilet Party, the Nationwide Social Democratic Party, the Baitak Green Party, the People's Party of Kazakhstan, the Auyl People's Democratic Patriotic Party, the Democratic Party of Kazakhstan Ak Zhol and Respublica.
