Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch: chief of state: President Nursultan A. NAZARBAYEV (chairman of the Supreme Soviet from 22 February 1990-91, president since 1 December 1991) head of government: Prime Minister Nurlan BALGIMBAYEV (since 10 October 1997) and First Deputy Prime Minister Uraz ZHANDOSOV (since 20 February 1998) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 1 December 1991 (next to be held NA 2000); note-President NAZARBAYEV's term was extended to the year 2000 by a nationwide referendum held 30 April 1995; prime minister and first deputy prime minister appointed by the president election results: Nursultan A. NAZARBAYEV elected president without opposition; percent of vote-NA note: President NAZARBAYEV has expanded his presidential powers by decree: only he can initiate constitutional amendments, appoint and dismiss the government, dissolve parliament, call referenda at his discretion, and appoint administrative heads of regions and cities
Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament consists of the Senate (47 seats; 7 senators are appointed by the president; other members are popularly elected, two each from each oblast and Almaty, to serve four-year terms) and the Majilis (67 seats; members are popularly elected to serve four-year terms); note-with the oblasts being reduced to 14, the Senate will eventually be reduced to 37 elections: Senate-(indirect) last held 5 December 1995 (next to be held NA 1999); Majilis-last held 9 December and 23 December 1995 (next to be held NA 1999) election results: Senate-percent of vote by party-NA; seats by party-party members 13, no party affiliation 34, of which "independent" state officials 25, nominated by the president 7, elected by popular vote 15; Majilis-percent of vote by party-NA; seats by party-PUP 24, December National Democratic Party 12, Kazakh Agrarian Union 5, Confederation of Kazakh Trade Unions 5, KPK 2, independents and others 19
Judicial branch: Supreme Court (44 members); Constitutional Council (7 members)
Political parties and leaders: Alash National Freedom Party [Aron
ATABEK]; People's Unity Party or PUP (was Union of People's Unity)
[Akhan BIZHANOV, chairman]; Democratic Party [Tulegen ZHUKEYEV and
Altynbek SARSENBAYEV, cochairmen]; People's Congress of Kazakhstan or
NKK [Anuar ISMAILOV, chairman]; AZAMAT Movement [Petr SVOIK, Murat
AUEZOV, and Galym ABILSIITOV, cochairmen]; Communist Party or KPK
[Serikbolsyn ABDILDIN, first secretary]; National Democratic Party
[Hasen KOZHAKHMETOV, chairman]; AZAT party [Toleubek KARAMENDIN,
chairman]; Labor and Workers Movement [Madel ISMAILOV, chairman];
Peasant Union of the Republic Kazakhstan or KPU; Republican People's
Slavic Movement-Harmony or Lad [Aleksander SAMARKIN, chairman]; Party
for Social Justice and Economic Revival "Tagibat"; Social Democratic
Party of Kazakhstan or SDPK [Dos KUSHIMOV, cochairman]; People's
Cooperative Party [Umirzak SARSENOV, chairman]; Organization of
Veterans; Republican Party [Sabetkazy AKATAYEV]; Russian Center or RT
[Nina SIDOROVA, chairwoman]; Russian Cossacks [Vladimir DESYATOV, head
(ataman)]; Pensioners Movement or Pokoleniye [Irina SAVOSTINA,
chairwoman]; Liberal Movement [Asylbek BISENBAYEV, chairman]
Political pressure groups and leaders: Independent Trade Union Center
[Leonid SOLOMIN, president]; Kazakhstani-American Bureau on Human
Rights [Yevgeniy ZHOVTIS, executive director]; Democratic Committee on
Human Rights [Baretta YERGALIEVA, chairwoman]; Independent Miners
Union [Victor GAIPOV, president]; The Almaty-Helsinki Foundation for
Human Rights [Ninel FOKINA, chairwoman]; Legal Development of
Kazakhstan [Vitaliy VORONOV, chairman]
International organization participation: AsDB, CCC, CIS, EAPC, EBRD,
ECE, ECO, ESCAP, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat,
Interpol, IOC, ISO, ITU, OIC, OSCE, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UPU,
WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (applicant)
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Bolat K. NURGALIYEV chancery: (temporary) 3421 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 333-4504 through 4507 FAX: [1] (202) 333-4509
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador A. Elizabeth JONES embassy: 99/97 Furmanova Street, Almaty, Republic of Kazakhstan 480012 mailing address: use embassy street address telephone: [7] (3272) 63-39-05, 63-13-75, 63-24-26 FAX: [7] (3272) 63-38-83
Flag description: sky blue background representing the endless sky and a gold sun with 32 rays soaring above a golden steppe eagle in the center; on the hoist side is a "national ornamentation" in yellow