Kazakhstan prepares for its first mayoral elections

According to the press service of the Karaganda region, the election of a mayor of the town of Abai is set for April 10.

There are four candidates for the position, including Medeu Akhmetov, the current mayor of Abai, who has stayed in office since May 15, 2018, Akniet Abzhatov and Amangeldy Nurmukhanov, both workers in the local administration and Gulnara Kosaeva, a coach in a local sports club. The first and the last candidates are nominees of the Amanat and NPK (Kazakhstan Peoples Party) political parties respectively, while the other two are independent candidates.

Abai is a town of regional subordinance in the Karaganda region with a population of 29,000 people. The town’s economy is based on coal production. In 2021 the town produced goods worth $229.8 million which is a 2.5% share of the region’s output.

Until May 24, 2021, mayoral elections in towns of regional subordinance in Kazakhstan were based on indirect voting. In other words, voters weren’t able to directly participate in elections and would instead delegate their will to the electoral college.