North Macedonia Assembly Delegation Observes Early Parliamentary Elections in Kazakhstan

Monika Zajkova, head of the Assembly Delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and Vice-President of the OSCE PA, together with Boban Karapejovski, an alternate member of the Delegation, took part in the OSCE PA mission to observe the early parliamentary elections in Kazakhstan, held on 23 August 2026.

The delegation of the Assembly of the Republic of North Macedonia monitored the electoral process in various areas of the capital, Astana, and its surrounding area. During the observation, the team visited around 12 polling stations and submitted written reports on its findings.

The elections were held following the constitutional referendum in Kazakhstan, through which a single nationwide electoral constituency was created, a proportional system with closed lists was introduced, and a number of other changes were adopted.

The OSCE PA mission comprised parliamentarians from OSCE participating States, deployed to observe the elections in Astana and other regions of Kazakhstan. They worked closely with colleagues from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) to gather further information on how the parliamentary elections were conducted.

Before polling stations opened, the observers received detailed briefings from representatives of the Central Election Commission, political parties, civil society, the media and independent experts. Following two days of in-depth discussions, the OSCE parliamentarians were deployed to different parts of Kazakhstan to assess the electoral process.

Gabor Hajdu of Romania, Vice-President of the OSCE PA, served as the OSCE Special Coordinator and leader of the short-term election observers. The OSCE PA delegation was headed by Lucia Tacer Perlin of Slovenia.

The assessment of the elections will be carried out in line with the democratic commitments set out in the 1990 OSCE Copenhagen Document. The findings will be compiled and analysed for inclusion in the preliminary conclusions of the international election observation mission, which will be made public at a joint press conference on 24 August.