ASTANA – The Central Electoral Commission of Kazakhstan (CEC) has officially registered Communist People’s Party of Kazakhstan representative Turgun Syzdykov as a candidate for the April 26 early presidential election.
Turgun Syzdykov. Photograph: Marat Kurakov
Syzdykov collected 98,384 valid voter signatures in support of his candidacy. The law requires at least 93,012 signatures. Thus, he became the second official candidate for president and received official accreditation as a presidential candidate.
As reported earlier, incumbent President Nursultan Nazarbayev was the first officially registered candidate for the early election, which was initiated bythe Council of the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan (APK). The CEC reported March 15 that Nazarbayev had collected 560,523 of valid voter signatures from all 16 regions of the country.
As of March 17, the CEC has announced that seven candidates had passed the language exam and had received the go-ahead to begin collecting signatures. They are Nazarbayev, Syzdykov, Lymana Koyshieva, Abelgazy Kussainov,Kanat Turageldiyev, Zharylkap Kalybai and Khasen Khozha-Akhmet.
The candidates have until March 25 to collect more than 90,000 signatures in at least nine of 14 oblasts (regions) and the two cities of Astana and Almaty in order to be registered as candidates in the upcoming election.
