NUR-SULTAN – On the eve of the elections for Majilis (the lower house of the Kazakh Parliament) and the Maslikhats (local executive bodies) to be held on Jan.10, an important meeting of the Central Election Commission took place on Jan.8.
Anastasia Schegortsova, a member of the Central Election Commission, said that the pre-election activities of candidates were carried out on 10 TV channels, eight radio stations, 22 online sources and 19 print media outlets.
Overall, 2,582 broadcasts of each party were recorded. On the radio channels of eight radio stations, 1,217 broadcasts of agitation audio clips were recorded. Some 22 online sources feature 199 articles and banners. Some 19 governmental and regional print media published 152 campaign articles.
Schegortsova recalled that as part of the election campaign the Central Election Commission organized live debates on the Khabar TV channel in December with the participation of political parties.
In accordance with the new regulations, the participants were provided with equal opportunities and conditions for performing. In addition, live television debates were held on Dec.22 on the Qazaqstan TV channel, as well as on Dec.26 on the KTK TV channel. The organization of these television debates was initiated by the TV channels, and also paid for from the electoral funds of political parties.
Schegortsova also spoke about the campaigning activities of the candidates.
Thus, candidates from the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan via Zoom platform held online meetings with voters and members of the Assembly. In addition, in the regions, meetings of candidates from the Assembly with voters were held as well.
Eleven campaign publications from the candidates were posted in government and regional print media. Campaign videos were posted on three TV channels.
In general, equal access of political parties to the media was ensured, and voters were able to obtain complete, reliable and objective information about all parties participating in the elections.
Schegortsova touched on the issues around organizing public opinion polls. According to the report, out of 11 legal entities that sent notifications to the Central Election Commission to conduct a public opinion poll, 10 of them met the requirements set by the electoral committee.
Vice-Minister of Information and Social Development Kemelbek Oishybayev said that about 6,656 materials were devoted to informing the voter about the current activities of each of the political parties during the pre-election campaign.
According to the monitoring results, the rule regarding providing equal access to the mass media for political parties was observed.
Deputy Prosecutor General of Kazakhstan Bulat Dembayev noted that “the election process was a success. No major instances of law-breaking were observed.”
During the campaigning period, one violation of the conditions for conducting a public opinion poll on elections in the media was recorded, two instances of damage to campaign materials, and 10 instances of illegal campaigning.
Some 13 citizens were brought to justice on these charges by the prosecutor’s office.
Summing up the session, Chairman of the Central Election Commission Berik Imashev reminded the media that January 9 is an official political day of silence. Any actions related to pre-election campaigning are prohibited on that day.
