The key priority for the electoral bodies of Kazakhstan and

India is citizen’s trust

 

On 24 June 2024, the Chairman of the Central Election Commission of Kazakhstan Nurlan Abdirov met with the Chief Election Commissioner of India Rajiv Kumar during his official visit to Kazakhstan.

The Director of the Election Commission of India Pankaj Srivastava, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of India to Kazakhstan Dr.T.V.Nagendra Prasad, members, responsible staff of the CEC of Kazakhstan also participated in the meeting.

At the meeting, the pressing issues concerning the further development of cooperation between the central electoral bodies of the two countries were discussed.

The Head of the CEC informed his Indian colleague about the updates in the electoral system of Kazakhstan in the context of the constitutional reform initiated by President of Kazakhstan Kasym-Jomart Tokayev and supported publicly at the national referendum on 5 June 2022.

He emphasized that the practice of mutual sending of election observers is successfully developing and expanding. Thus, representatives of India participated in the international observation of the Presidential elections in Kazakhstan in 2019 and the elections of deputies of the Mazhilis of the Parliament in 2023.The CEC Chairman thanked his colleague for the opportunity to participate for the first time in the international observation of the third stage of elections to the House of People's Representatives (Lok Sabha) of India from May 4 to 8 this year. Taking the opportunity, he congratulated his colleague on the successful completion of the unprecedented election campaign (more information about the election observation in India can be found on the CEC website: https://www.election.gov.kz/rus/news/releases/index.php?ID=9321). 

During the meeting, Rajiv Kumar spoke about the challenges of the Lok Sabha elections, including issues related to the information support of the election campaign, countering disinformation and fake news, as well as certain aspects of election financing. He also underlined that his visit to Kazakhstan is his first visit after the completion of these elections.

The voting process for the election of people's representatives (Lok Sabha) was conducted in seven stages within the period of 44 days (from 19 April to 1 June 2024). India is the largest country in the world in terms of the number of voters (about 1 billion people) who vote at polling stations using autonomous electronic voting systems (EVM - Electronic Voting Machine). Meantime, a distinctive feature of the Indian electoral system is the prohibition of photo and video recording of the voting process, as well as photo and video monitoring at the polling stations.

 “We are delighted to observe the Election Commission of India, which under your leadership has been active in both international and regional associations in the electoral field. You chaired the World Association of Electoral Bodies (A-WEB) for the years 2021-2022. We also highly appreciate your chairmanship of the Association of Asian Election Authorities (AAEA) in 2022-2024 and in previous years,” Nurlan Abdirov addressed the Chief Commissioner of India.

During the meeting, the Head of the Central Election Commission noted that he considered India's experience unique and that the exchange of experience in bilateral cooperation is very useful. At the same time, he expressed interest in elevating cooperation to a higher, strategic level. He emphasized that the key factor, which unites the electoral systems of the two countries, is the shared goal to increase voter confidence.

The parties agreed to expand and deepen bilateral professional cooperation. Nurlan Abdirov's proposal to sign a Memorandum of Understanding between the central election authorities of Kazakhstan and India was supported by his colleague Rajiv Kumar. It was agreed to develop a detailed action plan for its implementation after the signing of the document in the near future.

In turn, Chief Election Commissioner of the Republic of India Rajiv Kumar made a proposal to his Kazakh colleagues to participate in international training programs in India at the International Institute for Democracy and Election Management, as well as in the observation local elections in selected provinces of India, which will be conducted at the end of this year.

On the same day, the Chairman of the Senate of the Parliament of Kazakhstan Maulen Ashimbayev met with the Indian delegation headed by Rajiv Kumar.

Maulen Ashimbayev informed the meeting participants about the reforms being  implemented in the country under the Head of State’s initiative, including important amendments to the Constitution of Kazakhstan. These include the introduction of a mixed electoral system, a single seven-year presidential term, 30% quota for women, youth and persons with disabilities in party lists when nominating candidates to the Mazhilis of the Parliament. The Senate Speaker stressed that the legislative changes were made to decentralize power, strengthen checks and balances in the political system, and increase competition between political parties.

During the meeting, Rajiv Kumar praised the socio-economic and political transformations in the country; in particular, those aimed at protecting the rights and interests of citizens, and expressed hope for further strengthening of inter-parliamentary cooperation.

During the visit, the delegation of India met with the Minister of Digital Development, Innovation, and Aerospace Industry of Kazakhstan Zhaslan Madiev and was informed about the concept and operations of the digital government of Kazakhstan, as well as about the work of transforming the digital ecosystem of the country.

In the framework of his visit, Rajiv Kumar met with the Akim of Astana city Zhenis Kasymbek and was informed about the activities of territorial election commissions of Astana and Almaty.

The videos of the visit can be found at the following links:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=194vtcfiPTo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyzt53EhrmY