1.
Official residence
–
An official residence is the residence at which a nations head of state, head of government, governor or other senior figure officially resides. It may or may not be the location where the individual conducts work-related functions or lives. This has occurred in the 21st century in Detroit and New York City, in the case of Denver, no mayor has ever lived in the official residence, the city instead makes it available to certain non-profit groups for special functions. The President uses own private residence, - Its address is 1 Cheongwadae-ro, Jongro-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea. It is located next to Gyeongbokgung, the palace during the Joseon Dynasty. Cheong Nam Dae - Cheong Nam Dae used to be one of the two residences for the President of Republic of Korea. It was returned to public in 2003, - It is located in Cheongwon-gun, North Chungcheong Province. Cheong Hae Dae - Cheong Hae Dae used to be one of the two residences for the President of Republic of Korea. Although the president no longer uses this facility this compound is still under the administration of the Republic of Korea Navy, - It is located on one of the islands of Geoje-shi, South Gyeongsang Province. Chongri Gonggwan - This is the residence for the Prime Minister of Republic of Korea. The Prime Minister, however, does not work here, - Its address is 111-2 Samcheongdong-gil, Jongro-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea. It is located close to Cheong Wa Dae, gukhoeuijang Gonggwan - This is the official residence for the Speaker of the National Assembly of Republic of Korea. The Speaker, also, does not work here, - It is located in Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, where many foreign missions to Korea are located. Daebeobwonjang Gonggwan - This is the residence for the Chief Justice of Republic of Korea. The Chief Justice, also, does not work here, - It is also located in Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul. Most ministers of state and heads of administrative regions also have official residences, although they are not listed here. S
2.
Astana
–
Astana is the capital city of Kazakhstan. It is located on the Ishim River in the portion of Kazakhstan, within the Akmola Region. The 2014 census reported a population of 835,153 within the city limits, founded in 1830 as a settlement of Akmoly or Akmolinsky prikaz, it served as a defensive fortification for the Siberian Cossacks. In 1832 the settlement was granted a status and renamed Akmolinsk. On March 20,1961 the city was renamed Tselinograd to mark the evolution as a cultural. In 1992 it was renamed Akmola, the original name meaning a white grave. On December 10,1997 Akmola replaced Almaty as the capital of Kazakhstan, on May 6,1998 it was renamed Astana, which means the capital city in Kazakh. Modern Astana is a city, like Brasília in Brazil, Canberra in Australia. After Astana became the capital of Kazakhstan, the city changed its shape. The master plan of Astana was designed by Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa, as the seat of the Government of Kazakhstan, Astana is the site of the Parliament House, the Supreme Court, the Ak Orda Presidential Palace and numerous government departments and agencies. It is home to many buildings, hotels and skyscrapers. Astana also has extensive healthcare, sports and education systems, the settlement of Akmoly, also known as Akmolinsky prikaz, was established on the Ishim River in 1830 as the seat of an okrug by a unit of the Siberian Cossacks headed by Fyodor Shubin. The name was given after a local landmark—Akmola literally means a white grave in Kazakh—although this theory is not universally accepted. In 1832, the settlement was granted town status and named Akmolinsk, the fairly advantageous position of the town was clear as early as 1863 in an abstract from the Geographic and Statistical Dictionary of the Russian Empire. It describes how picket roads and lines connected this geographic centre to Kargaly in the East, Aktau fort in the South, in 1838, at the height of the great national and liberation movement headed by Kenesary Khan, Akmolinsk fortress was burned. After the repression of the movement, the fortress was rebuilt. On 16 July 1863, Akmolinsk was officially declared an uyezd town, during the rapid development of the Russian capitalist market, the huge Saryarka areas were actively exploited by the colonial administration. To draft Regulation governing the Kazakh steppe the Government of the Russian Empire formed Steppe Commission in 1865, on 21 October 1868, Tsar Alexander II signed a draft Regulation on governing Turgay, Ural, Akmolinsk and Semipalatinsk Oblasts
3.
Kazakhstan
–
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in northern Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Kazakhstan is the worlds largest landlocked country, and the ninth largest in the world, Kazakhstan is the dominant nation of Central Asia economically, generating 60% of the regions GDP, primarily through its oil/gas industry. It also has vast mineral resources, Kazakhstan is officially a democratic, secular, unitary, constitutional republic with a diverse cultural heritage. Kazakhstan shares borders with Russia, China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan, the terrain of Kazakhstan includes flatlands, steppe, taiga, rock canyons, hills, deltas, snow-capped mountains, and deserts. Kazakhstan has an estimated 18 million people as of 2014, Given its large area, its population density is among the lowest. The capital is Astana, where it was moved in 1997 from Almaty, the territory of Kazakhstan has historically been inhabited by nomadic tribes. This changed in the 13th century, when Genghis Khan occupied the country as part of the Mongolian Empire, following internal struggles among the conquerors, power eventually reverted to the nomads. By the 16th century, the Kazakh emerged as a distinct group, the Russians began advancing into the Kazakh steppe in the 18th century, and by the mid-19th century, they nominally ruled all of Kazakhstan as part of the Russian Empire. Following the 1917 Russian Revolution, and subsequent civil war, the territory of Kazakhstan was reorganised several times, in 1936, it was made the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, part of the Soviet Union. Kazakhstan was the last of the Soviet republics to declare independence during the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Kazakhstan has worked to develop its economy, especially its dominant hydrocarbon industry. Kazakhstans 131 ethnicities include Kazakhs, Russians, Uzbeks, Ukrainians, Germans, Tatars, the Kazakh language is the state language, and Russian has equal official status for all levels of administrative and institutional purposes. The name Kazakh comes from the ancient Turkic word qaz, to wander, the name Cossack is of the same origin. The Persian suffix -stan means land or place of, so Kazakhstan can be translated as land of the wanderers. Kazakhstan has been inhabited since the Neolithic Age, the regions climate, archaeologists believe that humans first domesticated the horse in the regions vast steppes. Central Asia was originally inhabited by the Scythians, the Cuman entered the steppes of modern-day Kazakhstan around the early 11th century, where they later joined with the Kipchak and established the vast Cuman-Kipchak confederation. Under the Mongol Empire, the largest in history, administrative districts were established. These eventually came under the rule of the emergent Kazakh Khanate, throughout this period, traditional nomadic life and a livestock-based economy continued to dominate the steppe. Nevertheless, the region was the focus of ever-increasing disputes between the native Kazakh emirs and the neighbouring Persian-speaking peoples to the south, at its height the Khanate would rule parts of Central Asia and control Cumania
4.
Nursultan Nazarbayev
–
Nursultan Äbishuly Nazarbayev is the President of Kazakhstan. He holds the title Leader of the Nation, in April 2015, Nazarbayev was re-elected with almost 98% of the vote. Nazarbayev has suppressed dissent, been accused of human rights abuses by several human rights organizations, no election held in Kazakhstan since independence has met international standards. In 2010 he announced reforms to encourage a multi-party system, in January 2017, President Nazarbayev proposed constitutional reforms that would delegate powers to the parliament. Nazarbayev was born in Chemolgan, a town near Almaty. His father was a labourer who worked for a wealthy local family until Soviet rule confiscated the familys farmland in the 1930s during Joseph Stalins collectivization policy. Following this, his father took the family to the mountains to live out a nomadic existence and his father avoided compulsory military service due to a withered arm he sustained when putting out a fire. At the end of World War II the family returned to the village of Chemolgan and he performed well at school, and was sent to a boarding school in Kaskelen. After leaving school he took up a one-year, government-funded scholarship at the Karaganda Steel Mill in Temirtau and he also spent time training at a steel plant in Dniprodzerzhynsk, and therefore was away from Temirtau when riots broke out there over working conditions. By 20, he was earning a good wage doing incredibly heavy. He joined the Communist Party in 1962, becoming a prominent member of the Young Communist League, and full-time worker for the party, and attended the Karagandy Polytechnic Institute. He was appointed secretary of the Communist Party Committee of the Karaganda Metallurgical Kombinat in 1972, in his role as a bureaucrat, Nazarbayev dealt with legal papers, logistical problems and industrial disputes, as well as meeting workers to solve individual issues. In 1984, Nazarbayev became the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, under Dinmukhamed Kunayev, at the 16th session of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan in January 1986, Nazarbayev criticized Askar Kunayev, head of the Academy of Sciences, for not reforming his department. Dinmukhamed Kunayev, Nazarbayevs boss and Askars brother, felt deeply angered and betrayed, Kunayev went to Moscow and demanded Nazarbayevs dismissal while Nazarbayevs supporters campaigned for Kunayevs dismissal and Nazarbayevs promotion. Kunayev was ousted in 1986 and replaced by a Russian, Gennady Kolbin, Nazarbayev was named party leader on 22 June 1989-- only the second Kazakh to hold the post. He was Chairman of the Supreme Soviet from 22 February to 24 April 1990, on 24 April 1990, Nazarbayev was named the first President of Kazakhstan by the Supreme Soviet. He supported Russian President Boris Yeltsin against the coup in August 1991 by Soviet hardliners. Nazarbayev was close enough to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev for Gorbachev to consider him for the post of Vice President of the Soviet Union, however, the Soviet Union disintegrated following the failed coup, though Nazarbayev was highly concerned with maintaining the close economic ties between Kazakhstan and Russia
5.
Head of government
–
The term head of government is often differentiated from the term head of state, as they may be separate positions, individuals, and/or roles depending on the country. In parliamentary systems, including constitutional monarchies, the head of government is the de facto leader of the government. For example, in the United Kingdom, the prime minister advises the Queen on the appointment of the cabinet, advice she is required to accept. On the other hand, the Queens long service as the head of state enables her to provide the prime minister with information and insight into many matters to better run the government. However, because the United Kingdom is a monarchy, the Prime Minister uses his or her own discretion regarding whether or not to follow the Queens advice. The Queen also is entitled to appoint a new Prime Minister, in presidential republics or in absolute monarchies, the head of state is also usually the head of government. The relationship between that leader and the government, however, can vary greatly, ranging from separation of powers to autocracy, in semi-presidential systems, the head of government may answer to both the head of state and the legislature, with the specifics provided by each countrys constitution. A modern example is the present French government, which originated as the French Fifth Republic in 1958, in France, the president, the head of state, appoints the prime minister, who is the head of government. In some cases, the head of state may represent one political party, in this case, known as cohabitation, the prime minister, along with the cabinet, controls domestic policy, with the presidents influence is largely restricted to foreign affairs. In directorial systems, the executive responsibilities of the head of government are spread among a group of people, a prominent example is the Swiss Federal Council, where each member of the council heads a department and also votes on proposals relating to all departments. A common title for many heads of government is prime minister, various constitutions use different titles, and even the same title can have various multiple meanings, depending on the constitutional order and political system of the state in question. In addition to prime minister, titles used for the democratic model, some of these titles relate to governments below the national level. Have been used by various Empires, Kingdoms and Princely States of India as a title for the Prime Minister, maltese, In Malta, the head of government is Prim Ministru. In this case, the prime minister serves at the pleasure of the monarch, some such titles are diwan, mahamantri, pradhan, wasir or vizier. However, just because the head of state is the de jure dominant position does not mean that he/she will not always be the de facto political leader, in some cases, the head of state is a figurehead whilst the head of the government leads the ruling party. In some cases a head of government may even pass on the title in hereditary fashion, the ability to vote down legislative proposals of the government. Control over or ability to vote down fiscal measures and the budget, all of these requirements directly impact the Head of governments role. Many parliamentary systems require ministers to serve in parliament, while others ban ministers from sitting in parliament, heads of government are typically removed from power in a parliamentary system by Resignation, following, Defeat in a general election
6.
Regions of Kazakhstan
–
Kazakhstan is divided into 14 regions. The regions are subdivided into districts. Three cities, Baykonur, the largest city Almaty and the capital Astana are not part of the regions they are surrounded by, ^1 Almaty and Astana cities have the status of State importance and do not relate to any region. ^2 The West Kazakhstan and Atyrau regions are both located in Eastern Europe as the Ural River run through Atyrau and Oral, their respective capital cities. ^3 Baikonur city has a special status because it is currently being leased to Russia with Baikonur Cosmodrome until the year 2050, over the last 60 years, both the distribution and names of regions of Kazakhstan have changed considerably. Changes in region names were often in line with the renaming of cities, after the administrative reform in 1997, the last change happened since then took place in 1999, when parts of North Kazakhstan that originally belonged to Kokshetau region became part of Akmola. The 1990s merges were in order to dilute Russian population in the resulting region and to avoid having regions where Russians form majority
7.
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev
–
Kassym-Zhomart Kemeluly Tokayev is a Kazakh politician and diplomat who has served as Chairman of the Senate of Kazakhstan since 16 October 2013. He previously held the same post from 11 January 2007 to 15 April 2011, Tokayev served as Prime Minister of Kazakhstan from 1 October 1999 to 28 January 2002 and as Director General of the United Nations Office at Geneva from 12 March 2011 to 16 October 2013. His father, Kemel Tokayev, was a veteran of the Second World War and his mother, Turar Shabarbayeva, worked at the Alma-Ata Institute of Foreign Languages. In 1970, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev joined the Moscow State Institute of International relations, in his fifth year, he was sent to the training courses at the USSR Embassay in China for six months. In 1979, he returned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the USSR, in 1983, he went to the People’s Republic of China for training courses at the Beijing Language Institute. In 1984–1985, he served in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and he was then posted to the Soviet Embassy in Beijing where he served until 1991 as Second Secretary, First Secretary, and Counsellor. In 1991, he enrolled at the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the USSR in Moscow in a course for senior diplomats. In 1992, Tokayev was appointed Deputy Foreign Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan, in 1993, he became First Deputy Foreign Minister and in 1994 he was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs. In March 1999, he was promoted to the post of Deputy Prime Minister, in October 1999, with the endorsement of the Parliament, he was appointed Prime Minister by Decree of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan. In January 2002, he resigned and was subsequently appointed Secretary of State – Minister of Foreign Affairs, Tokayev continued to serve as Minister of Foreign Affairs until January 2007 when he was elected Chairman of the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Tokayev held the post of Foreign Minister for ten years, as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Tokayev played an active role in the field of nuclear non-proliferation. In 1995 and 2005, he participated in the Review Conferences for the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons in New York, in 1996, he signed the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty in New York, and in 2005 the Treaty on a Nuclear-Weapons-Free Zone in Central Asia in Semipalatinsk. He was elected Chairman of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Commonwealth of Independent States, Tokayev took part in ten sessions of the United Nations General Assembly. He holds the rank of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary. As Chairman of the Senate of the Parliament of Kazakhstan, Tokayev was elected in 2008 Vice-President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and his view on the political system of Kazakhstan, Strong President, authoritative Parliament, accountable Government. We must ensure the implementation of this important provision by legislative, and most importantly, it is essential to carry out the President’s demand on the national jurisdiction over the land as well as its efficient and rational use”. Mr. Tokayev made these comments during the hearings in the Senate on 29 April 2016. He serves as Secretary-General of the Conference on Disarmament and he is also the Designated Official for safety and security of UN personnel for Switzerland
8.
Elections in Kazakhstan
–
Elections in Kazakhstan are held on a national level to elect a President and the Parliament, which is divided into two bodies, the Majilis and the Senate. Local elections for maslikhats are held five years. Elections are administered by the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan, there are more than 10 political parties in Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan’s political opposition is the most developed in the region in terms of its abilities and resources. The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights has deployed election monitors to Kazakhstan for observation of parliamentary, in the recent Kazakh elections, many Kazakh voters were offered a choice of voting on electronic voting machines or on paper ballots. At least some of the boxes used in Kazakhstan are transparent in order to defend against ballot box stuffing. Each polling place was equipped with both a large box and smaller mobile ballot boxes. The latter are designed to be carried, by poll-workers, to voters outside the polling place and this is an alternative to offering absentee ballots or proxy voting for voters with disabilities that prevent them from going to the polls. Electronic voting in Kazakhstan is based on the AIS Sailau electronic voting system developed in Belarus and this system is best described as an indirect-recording electronic voting system, as opposed to the DRE voting machines that have been more widely studied. In this system, the touch-screen voting terminal in the voting booth serves as a ballot marking device, the voting terminal itself retains no record of the vote after the voter takes the smart card. Candidates for elected office in Kazakhstan can receive financial support to cover campaign costs. In Senate elections, each candidate receives about $2,170, there have been several international election observation missions organised in Kazakhstan. The OSCE has observed the elections, kazakhstans president is elected by the people and serves for at most two five-year terms. Term limits were removed for the incumbent Nursultan Nazarbayev on 18 May 2007, early presidential elections were called by President Nazarbayev and were held on April 26,2015. President Barack Obama sent a letter to President Nazarbayev congratulating him on his reelection in the April 26 election, the legislature, known as the Parliament, has two chambers. The Assembly has 107 seats, elected for a term,98 elected in general elections by proportional representation with 7% threshold and 9 elected by the Assembly of Kazakhstani Nation. The Senate has 47 members,40 of whom are elected to terms in double-seat constituencies by the local assemblies. In addition, ex-presidents are ex officio senators for life, as of March 2015, none of the elections held in Kazakhstan have been considered free or fair by Western countries or international observers
9.
Kazakh presidential election, 2005
–
Kazakhstan held a presidential election on 4 December 2005. Incumbent President Nursultan Nazarbayev, in power since 1989, sought, 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 Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe criticized the elections, calling them unfair, but noted improvements. Zamanbek Nurkadilov, described as the figure of the opposition, was unable to take part. A former mayor of Almaty and government minister, Nurkadilov had joined the opposition and 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 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, 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 Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe
10.
Dinmukhamed Kunayev
–
Dinmukhamed Akhmetuly Kunayev was a Kazakh Soviet communist politician. Kunayev, the son of a Kazakh clerk, was born at Verny, now Almaty and he graduated from the Institute of Non-Ferrous and Fine Metallurgy in Moscow in 1936, which enabled him to become a machine operator. By 1939 he had become engineer-in-chief of the Pribalkhashatroi mine, and joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Kunayev was deputy chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Kazakh SSR from 1942 to 1952. In 1947,1951,1955 and 1959 he also was a deputy in the Kazakh SSR Supreme Soviet, Kunayevs rise in Communist Party ranks had been closely tied to that of Leonid Brezhnevs. Khrushchev appointed Panteleymon Ponomarenko as the first secretary of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan, soon, Kunayev and Brezhnev developed a close friendship which lasted until the death of Brezhnev. Brezhnev became the first secretary of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan in 1955, when Brezhnev left Kazakhstan in 1956, I. Iakovlev became the First Secretary of the Kazakh Communist Party, Kunayev had to wait until 1960 to attain the post. In 1962 he was dismissed from his position as he disagreed with Khrushchevs plans to some lands in Southern Kazakhstan into Uzbekistan. Ismail Yusupov, a supporter of the plan, replaced Kunayev and he became first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan again in 1964 when Khrushchev was ousted and replaced by Brezhnev. He kept his position for more years. He was an member of the Politburo from 1967. During Kunayevs long rule, Kazakhs occupied prominent positions in the bureaucracy, economy, a Brezhnev loyalist, he was removed from office under pressure from Mikhail Gorbachev, who accused him of corruption. On 16 December 1986 the Politburo replaced him with Gennady Kolbin and this provoked street riots in Almaty, which were the first signs of ethnic strife during Gorbachevs tenure. In modern Kazakhstan, this revolt is called Jeltoqsan, meaning December in Kazakh, Kunayev was awarded the Gold Star of Hero of Socialist Labour three times. He spent the last years of his life in charitable activity, establishing the Dinmukhamed Kunayev Foundation, an institute and a street in Almaty have been named after him as well as an avenue in downtown Astana. Kazakhstan, Seven Year Plan for Prosperity by Dinmukhamed Kunayev Commemorative Coin –100 years anniversary of Konayevs birth
11.
Nur Otan
–
The Nur Otan Democratic Peoples Party, called simply Nur Otan, is the ruling political party in Kazakhstan with over 762,000 members. Since 2007 it is headed by President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev Nazarbayevs predecessor in the party was Bakhytzhan Zhumagulov, the partys First Deputy Chairman is Askar Myrzakhmetov. At the uniting congress the new party outlined a program largely supportive of the government of Nazarbayev, at the last legislative elections under the Otan banner in 2004, the party won 60. 6% of the popular vote and 42 out of 77 seats. Otan merged with Dariga Nazarbayevas Asar on 25 September 2006, increasing the seats by 4 to 46 out of 77. After the merged party was formed, Nazarbayev remarked to his daughter Tell your Asar members that and you are returning to your father. Nazarbayeva said on 19 June 2006 that all parties should combine to create a grouping with which no other party will be able to compete in the next 50 years. In December 2006 it was announced that the Civic Party and the Agrarian Party would follow in Asars path, Nazarbayev said he expected other parties to merge with Otan. Nazarbayev said there should be fewer, stronger parties that efficiently defend the interests of the population, at the subsequent party congress on 22 December 2006, delegates voted to rename the party Nur Otan. In the 18 August 2007 Assembly elections, the party won 88. 05% of the vote, in October 2011 a cooperation agreement was signed in Astana between Nur Otan and the Ukrainian Party of Regions, and another in 2015 with United Russia
12.
Kazakh presidential election, 2011
–
Early presidential elections were held in Kazakhstan on 3 April 2011, having been originally scheduled for 2012. The elections were called after a plan for holding a referendum to increase president term limits to 2020 was rejected by the Constitutional Council, Nazarbayev was re-elected for a third term with 95% of the votes and 90% turnout, against three nominal candidates. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe has complained about a lack of transparency, Kazakhstan was reported at the 132nd place over 167 on The Economists Democracy Index for 2010, as an authoritarian regime. A referendum on extending presidential term limits was proposed to be held around March 2011, President Nursultan Nazarbayevs term was due to expire in 2012 and the referendum would have bypassed the next two scheduled elections. A Kazakh official stated that the move would help save our efforts, although Nazarbayev rejected the proposal, it would still have gone ahead if 80% of the members of the parliament voted for it, or if a public petition obtained at least 200,000 signatures. Media reports suggested that a petition for the referendum had already signed by 2,600,000 people. The Court therefore referred the matter to the President himself, as required by the Constitution of Kazakhstan, Nazarbayev agreed on putting aside the Constitutional referendum and immediately called for an early presidential election. Twenty-two potential candidates were counted before the process began, their number was finally reduced to four. The law requiring fluency in Kazakh was enacted in the 1990s, opponents charged that the test was administered in such a way as to disqualify Nazarbayevs opponents. Nazarbayev himself announced on 11 February 2011 that he would run for reelection and his candidacy was approved on 18 February 2011. Former member of parliament Ualikhan Qaisarov had taken the test on 8 February 2011, in total, eight candidates have either withdrawn their applications or failed the mandatory Kazakh language test. The environmentalist Mels Yeleusizov, even admitted to voting for Nazarbayev, the short timespan before election was cited by opposition leaders as impeding them to prepare and contest the poll. They therefore refused to part in the vote and called for a boycott. The option to vote against all, common in countries, was last legally available in the 1999 presidential election. Independent NGOs such as RFE/RL have reported increasing censorship by Kazakh authorities since February, on March 2, RFE/RL reported severe disruption of access to its websites, allegedly linked to orders received by government-controlled service providers KazTelecom and Nursat. International monitors cited numerous cases of ballot box-stuffing, voter intimidation, the OSCE received multiple reports of people being pressured to vote, and government officials were seen intimidating voters in universities, hospitals and military encampments. Other kinds of reported violations include seemingly identical signatures on voter lists, the OSCE concluded that the vote count lacked transparency and that correct procedures were often disregarded. The OSCE complained about a lack of transparency and competition in the vote
.svg){kind=small}
