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Speaking in a presser on Monday at the Embassy of Kazakhstan, Orazbay highlighted major developments regarding the March 19 parliamentary election in Kazakhstan. He first said that Kazakhstan has announced three days of holiday for celebrating Nowruz (New Year) as many countries in the region celebrate it.

He then said that the snap parliamentary (lower parliament) election is considered an important event in the framework of political developments in Kazakhstan, noting that Kazakh President pursues a new policy for building a country based on justice and this needs major developments in all fields and after the referendum, the parliamentary election is the other development.

Orazbay said that Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev is determined to direct his country towards justice and reshuffling laws of election and helping openness and freedom of expression in the country. He reiterated the country needs a new parliament (Mazhilis) to help the president for building a new Kazakhstan.

In his Address to the Nation on September 1, 2022, President Tokayev said: “The holding of early elections to the Mazhilis and maslikhats is dictated by the logic of the constitutional reform, supported by citizens at the national referendum. According to its results, our country moved to new, fairer, and more competitive rules of formation of the representative branches of power“.

He then said that the Central Election Commission (CEC) announced the admission of all seven registered political parties to participate in the 2023 legislative elections to field their candidates according to their party lists as people will elect deputies for 98 seats in the parliament as 70% of deputies have been elected from the lists of political parties and 30% of deputies from the candidates who are not on the list of the political parties and they compete individually.

Aq Jol, Amanat, Auyl, Baytaq, National, People’s Party and Republica are seven qualified political parties which have lists in the election.

To be eligible to run for the seat in the Mazhilis, a candidate must be a citizen of Kazakhstan, be at least 25 years of age, and should also have resided in Kazakhstan for the past ten years, he said, adding that a candidate for the seat in the maslikhat must also be a citizen of Kazakhstan, live in the region the candidate wants to represent, and be at least 20 years of age.

Mr. Orazbay went on to say that Kazakhstan has invited observers for its election from 34 countries who are mainly heads of election commissions in their own countries.

He stated that to participate in the observation of the early parliamentary elections in Kazakhstan, invitations were sent on behalf of the Minister of Foreign Affairs to 10 international organizations: Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, CIS Executive Committee, CIS Inter-parliamentary Assembly, Shanghai Cooperation Organization, CSTO Parliamentary Assembly, Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Organization of Turkic States, and Parliamentary Assembly of the Turkic States.

Orazbay said that CEC has so far accredited 111 international observers for the elections from 3 international organizations (the OSCE ODIHR, the Inter-parliamentary Assembly of the CIS member states, CIS observer mission) and 16 foreign states(PRC, the Kingdom of Netherlands, the State of Palestine, the Republic of Korea, the Kingdom of Belgium, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Kingdom of Thailand, the Republic of Armenia, Georgia, French Republic, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Great Britain, the Slovak Republic, the Republic of Estonia).

The election will be an acid test for Kazakhstan for experiencing new era and political development which can propel this country towards prosperity something that President Tokayev is determined to happen by recent drastic changes in political system and behaviors of the country.

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With all votes counted, the incumbent president secured 27.6 percent of the vote and his rival won 24.01 percent. Other major candidates admitted defeat, which means the two French heavyweights will face off in a rematch of the 2017 election.

Far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon came in third place with 22% of the vote

However, unlike in 2017, this time around the two are projected to be neck and neck going into the second round.

The French president is elected by a direct vote. There is no electoral college or parliament involved. Any candidate who wins more than 50 percent of the popular vote is elected. If no candidate wins that majority in the first round, as happened in the early hours of Monday morning, the top two candidates go through to a run-off election two weeks later.

Macron, who has served a five-year term in office, is a pro-European economic liberal and will now be battling for a rare second term in office against the far-right nationalist Le Pen.

It’s been two decades now since the last time a French president won a second term.

A victory for Le Pen in the second round will strike a similar jolt to the French establishment as Britain’s Brexit vote did to depart the European Union or Donald Trump’s 2017 victory to the White House.

Her radical, far-right anti-immigration platform would involve banning the Muslim headscarf from all public places, including the street, calling it a “uniform of totalitarian ideology”.

She said: “People will be given a fine in the same way that it is illegal to not wear your seatbelt. It seems to me that the police are very much able to enforce this measure.”

France would move away from being a driving force for European integration to being led by a euro-sceptic who is also suspicious of the NATO military alliance.

While Le Pen has ditched past ambitions for a “Frexit” or to pull France out of the euro zone’s single currency, she envisages the bloc as a mere alliance of sovereign states.

IFOP pollsters predicted a very tight runoff, with 51% for Macron and 49% for Le Pen. The gap is so tight that victory either way is within the margin of error.

Other estimates by pollsters OpinionWay, Elabe, and Ipsos show Macron and Le Pen almost neck and neck. Those estimates, published as voting ended, are normally quite reliable in France.

Macron told his supporters “make no mistake: nothing is decided, and the battle we will wage in the next 15 days will be decisive for France and Europe,” he told supporters at his campaign headquarters.

The incumbent leader also urged all voters to rally behind him on April 24th to prevent the far-right from ruling the European Union’s second-largest economy.

Le Pen, who in recent weeks went up in the polls thanks to a campaign focused on matters related to the cost of living says she was the one to protect the weak and unite a nation tired of its elite.

“what will be at stake on April 24 is a choice of society, a choice of civilization,” she told supporters “I will bring order back to France.”

Just a month ago, Macron was on course to comfortably ensure a second term, riding high in polls thanks to strong economic growth and a split opposition.

However, he paid the price with his late entry into the campaign during which he avoided walkabouts in provincial regions in favor of a single large rally outside Paris.

Macron’s policies of making people work longer also proved unpopular, enabling Le Pen to narrow the gap in opinion polls.

Le Pen, by contrast, for months has been touring towns and villages across the country, focusing on cost-of-living issues that trouble millions at the moment and tapping into anger towards the political elite. She also says her platform would protect the weak and make France independent.

Who will hold the Elysee Palace next will depend on how those who backed Macron and Le Pen’s rivals cast their ballots.

The biggest shock of the night was the very low score of Valerie Pecresse, the candidate for former President Nicolas Sarkozy’s traditional right-wing party Les Republicans.

She was projected to take less than five percent, a poor showing that is likely to lead to the implosion of her party in favor of its hardliners. This could leave France in a unique position in Europe of not having a traditional mainstream right.

Pecresse warned of “disastrous consequences” if Macron did not win the runoff.

As well as Pecresse, the Socialists’ Anne Hidalgo, the Greens’ Yannick Jadot, and the Communists’ Fabien Roussel announced they would be backing Macron to block the far-right.

“So that France does not fall into hatred of all against all, I solemnly call on you to vote on April 24 against the far-right of Marine Le Pen,” said Hidalgo.

But they all also had very harsh words for Macron and some of the very unpopular policies of his first mandate as well as an abrasive style that has put off many voters.

“Emmanuel Macron played with fire,” Pecresse told supporters.

But another far-right candidate Eric Zemmour will call on his supporters to back Le Pen. He acknowledged disagreements with Le Pen but said Macron was a worse choice.

However, surveys suggest that the so-called “republican front” has crumbled, with many left-wing voters saying they are loathed to endorse a leader they view as arrogant and a “president of the rich.”

Melenchon who took the third spot called on his supporters not to vote for Le Pen in the second round but stopped short of telling supporters they should back Macron.

“We know who we will never vote for… Not a single vote must go to Mrs. Le Pen,” Melenchon said at his party headquarters in Paris.

“You are in a capacity to lead this battle, and the next, and the next, as many as there could be,” Melenchon said.

Macron has voiced strong concern over the rise of the far-right telling French voters to avoid the country moving in that direction.

But analysts have accused the French President of the rise of the far-right, saying his heavy-handed crackdown on the Yellow Vest protests as well as his own anti-Muslim rhetoric has tapped into the sentiments of far-right voters.

Other experts also agreed to describe Macron himself as being on the right to try and win right-wing voters and only has himself to blame for the dramatic projection increase in votes towards Le Pen.

Many are expecting fierce campaigning between the two for the future of the country’s political landscape with both candidates certain to try and tactically grab the votes of other parties who lost out.

Unlike five years ago, when Macron celebrated after the first round knowing the far right would never stand a chance, he has much work to do this time around amid a low voter turnout reflecting the frustration of the French and the deep polarization in the country.

Macron faces the heavy task to be the first French president to win a second term in 20 years and it really does feel like France is in uncharted territory.

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The official announcement of the turnout and the winner was supposed to have been declared by Monday afternoon. However, this was delayed multiple times until evening time, with results still unclear because of disputes. These disputes can take up to four days to be settled by Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission.

One of the reasons that have been cited for the low turnout is the new electronic voting system. On Sunday, the system automatically shuts down at 6 pm and cannot be extended any further. Most people stay indoors to avoid the heat during the afternoon, so extending the voting hours until late at night would have likely seen a higher turnout.

Some ballot boxes have been recounted after concerns raised by international ministers.

However, this electronic ballot system is part of the reforms that some protesters had demanded to avoid any alleged vote-rigging, and there is no chance to extend the hours beyond 6 pm.

The new constituency system (also part of the reforms) was intended to boost the popularity of independent candidates against the traditional parties and party leaders. However, independent candidates did not win the number of seats expected, which means parties maintain popular support among the voters.

The popularity of the October Movement, also known as the Tishreen Movement, is not as popular as analysts had anticipated. The turnout would have been higher if they were more popular (the movement formed a party and fielded its candidates). It does appear that not many trust this movement. Despite having started with legitimate demands, the movement split and turned violent, with protesters attacking positions belonging to the country’s armed forces. Many party leaders even published video statements urging voters to choose the candidate based on the services they can provide and not on the party they are affiliated with. In essence, party leaders encouraged voters to pick independent candidates not affiliated with any parties. Still, even that wasn’t enough as the independents did not do well at all.

On the other hand, some observers say the turnout was pretty good when you consider Iraq has seen two parliamentary elections in the space of three years. More than 250 million security personnel were involved in protecting the election throughout the country. This election involved a lengthy process of pre-registering the voter’s name, taking digital fingerprints, and issuing a card that had to be presented at the voting booth.

Essentially, this new election law allows Iraqis to vote for specific candidates instead of broad party lists. The aim is to make lawmakers more accountable and reenergize the whole electoral process.

For many Iraqis, they have just about had enough with elections and election talk. The whole process is seen as destabilizing the country instead of focusing on the main issues.

Iraqi officials say the focus should be on protecting Iraq’s sovereignty, and only then can better efforts be made to provide better services. Protecting Iraqi sovereignty means bringing security to the country and removing the U.S. military presence, which many Iraqi officials label as an occupation.

They say this American occupation is interfering with the country’s internal affairs, causing sedition and boosting insecurity, which is delaying the whole process of providing more services. There is a strong argument that Baghdad cannot focus on improving its economy when there is no security. At the same time, Iraqi officials link the U.S. occupation to the insecurity in the country and the Daesh Takfiri terror group, which maintains sleeper cells in the country.

Hundreds of international monitors and observers were present across the polling stations. These monitors and observers came from the United Nations, the European Union in addition to regional and international countries. The Independent High Electoral Commission declared no irregularities in the voting system, and the international monitors observed no vote-rigging throughout the whole election process.

That’s bad news for the United States because it means parliament will not swing more than 5 percent in a different direction, the same parliament that passed a bill calling for the expulsion of the United States presence from the country. The bill came following the U.S. act of state terrorism on January 3rd, 2020, at Baghdad International Airport that saw American aircraft struck a convoy that assassinated the deputy commander of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units, Abu Mehdi al-Muhandis and Iranian Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani. The United Nations labeled the attack as “unlawful” under international law.

Considering that, pretty much, the new parliament is the same as the previous one, in essence, the issue of expelling American forces from the country will remain at the top of the agenda. This is also at the top of the agenda for ordinary Iraqis as they elect the candidates for parliament.

Experts say only when the U.S. military leaves can Iraq also remove insecurity issues from the country and provide the services that many people legitimately ask for.

The next government is expected to be formed in less than 40 days as no party won a majority in the 329 seat legislature, of which more than 3,200 candidates ran. Iraqi elections are often followed by lengthy talks over a president, a prime minister, and a cabinet under the system brought in by the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. The New parliamentarians will choose the next prime minister, a job currently held by Mustafa al-Kadhimi.

But getting a majority (165 seats from 329) means negotiations between different parties to form an alliance that exceeds 165 seats. In the past, it’s proven to be a difficult, lengthy task, sometimes taking months to complete. This time officials hope the process will be a matter of weeks.

In addition to removing the U.S. occupation, many challenges await the next government. These include getting rid of security threats from within the country itself and from the outside, raising the employment rate, removing power outages, returning the remaining internally displaced who fled from fighting with Daesh and other basic services to all parts of the country.

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