On August 23, Kazakhstan, a former Soviet country that has recently adopted a new constitution, will hold elections to its parliament.
The legislative body will be transformed from a two-chamber to a single-chamber system. Citizens will elect 145 members of parliament via party lists. All seven registered parties have been admitted to the election, including the ruling party, Adilet (which translates to "Justice").
But the election result is the least of the campaign's intrigues. Experts DW interviewed agree that no party other than President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev's Adilet stands a chance of winning.
Consolidation of power in the president's hands
Luca Anceschi, Professor of Eurasian Studies at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, suggests that the new parliament will do the same as the previous one, "which is pretty much to represent whatever the regime wants them to do."
