Anis H. Bajrektarevic is a Professor and a Chairperson for International Law and Global

party (meaning Radiating Fatherland) reigns
dominant with 762,000 members and holds 83
out of 107 seats in Kazakhstan’s Parliament.
Nur-Otan is the result of a merger of many po-
litical parties including Asar (the party of his
daughter Dariga Nazarbayeva), Fatherland
(Nur-Otan’s predecessor), Civic Party, and the
Agrarian Party. Political opposition in Kaza-
khstan is virtually non-existent and when it is
does exist, it is most likely staged. There are nine
registered political parties in Kazakhstan. The
main opposition party, Alga! (Forward), has
been disestablished after its party leader
Vladimir Kozlov was sentenced to seven-and-a-
half years in jail for “calling for the forcible over-
throw of the constitutional order,” and “creating
and leading an organized group with the aim
of committing one or more crimes.”[12] Kozlov
was also the leader of Halyk Maidany, or Peo-
ple’s Front Movement, which underscored the
grievances against the government.[13] The
charges brought against Kozlov were regarding
the 2011 events in Zhanaozen. The charges are
alleged politically motivated and are designed
to stifle political opposition. 
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The Kazakhstan National Security Committee
(KNB) led the criminal investigation against Ko-
zlov and his associates. Using intelligence serv-
ices underscores that Kozlov and other Alga!
members involved are being targeted for their
political activities, not protest matters. There are
nine political parties registered in Kazakhstan
as of May 2015.[14] 
The current status of political development in
Kazakhstan remains static. Nazarbayev will re-
main in power for the foreseeable future until
his death. Nazarbayev has no succession plan
which is worrisome. Political party pluralism re-
mains low and the opposition is expected to be
silenced. Kazakhstan will continue to explore
options with Western institutions like it did with
the OSCE chairmanship in 2010 to appear more
democratic. Kazakhstan will also increase its re-
gional participation and is expected to join the
China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank
(AIIB).
On April 27, 2015, Kazakhstan President Nursul-
tan Nazarbayev was almost unanimously re-
elected as President of Kazakhstan in a snap
election by the population of Kazakhstan. This
is his fifth term as President. Nazarbayev, age
74, won 97.7% of the vote; the opposition (said
to exist to make the election appear more com-
petitive) won the remaining 2.3% vote. OSCE
deployed an Election Observation Mission team
to make sure the elections met OSCE standards.
The OSCE requested that 400 observers be de-
ployed to voting facilities. OSCE observers
stated that “voters were not offered a genuine
choice.”[15]
The Kazakhstan Central Election Commission
stated that 95% turned out to vote and the
Chairman of the Election Committee called the
elections an “expression of civil society, electoral
activeness 
and 
political 
responsibility.”
Nazarbayev was sworn in on April 29, 2015.[16]
Nazarbayev will be the age of 80 when his term
ends in 2020. 
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