ASTANA, Kazakhstan, August 22. The upcoming elections to Kazakhstan’s Kurultai mark the transition from constitutional decisions to the practical functioning of the country’s new political system, Deputy Foreign Minister Arman Issetov said at a briefing for journalists ahead of the Kurultai elections, Trend’s special correspondent reports.
“Kazakhstan’s GDP grew by 6.5% in 2025. Industry, construction, transport, investment activity and other sectors made a significant contribution to this growth,” he said.
Issetov noted that Kazakhstan is steadily expanding the economic foundations of its development. Industrial production, infrastructure, transport and logistics, roads and the digital economy are developing, while investment is being attracted and new opportunities for businesses are being created. “However, economic development also presents the state with new challenges. The more complex the economy becomes, the more effective state institutions need to be. The greater the scale of private entrepreneurship and investment, the higher the requirements for the quality of legislation and public administration,” he said.
The deputy minister noted that as society becomes more diverse, it becomes increasingly important to have mechanisms that allow different public interests to be taken into account. “This is one of the main reasons behind the current constitutional reform. It is not aimed at change for the sake of change. Its purpose is to bring political institutions in line with modern Kazakhstan and prepare them for the country’s next stage of development. The upcoming Kurultai elections are an important part of this process. They mark the transition from constitutional decisions to the practical functioning of the new political system,” Issetov said.
On July 1, 2026, Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed a decree setting August 23, 2026, as the date for elections to the Kurultai, Kazakhstan’s unicameral parliament.
Previously, legislative power in Kazakhstan was exercised by a bicameral Parliament consisting of the Senate, the upper house, and the Mazhilis, the lower house. Under the new Constitution, which entered into force on July 1, 2026, Kazakhstan’s parliamentary system now provides for a unicameral Kurultai.
The Kurultai will comprise 145 deputies elected for five-year terms from party lists in a single nationwide electoral district through universal, equal and direct suffrage by secret ballot.
Seven political parties are participating in the elections: Adilet, the Nationwide Social Democratic Party, the Baitak Green Party of Kazakhstan, the People’s Party of Kazakhstan, Auyl, the Ak Zhol Democratic Party of Kazakhstan and Respublica.
