Less than three years after launching pilot direct elections of district mayors, known as akims, Kazakhstan has reversed course. A recent amendment to two critical laws – “On Local Public Administration and Self-Government” and “On Elections” – alter the procedure for selecting akims at the district and “cities of regional significance” level, doing away with elections.
In Kazakhstan, there are 39 “cities of regional significance.” These are regional economic hubs, such as the regional capital and other major urban centers. The cities of Almaty, Astana, and Shymkent, are “cities of republican significance” and operate independently of the regions in which they sit. “Akim” in Kazakhstan refers to the head of a local government – whether a village, town, city, district, or region. It’s akin to a mayor or a governor.
In 2021, Kazakhstan introduced the direct election of village akims. At the time, as Colleen Wood recounted: “President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said of the reform that paved the way for the election of akims, ‘This is not only a sign of sufficient maturity of our political system, but also a serious step in the democratic development of our society.'”
The change allowed villagers to directly chose their local leadership for the first time. Previously, as Wood explained, from 2013 onward village akims had been indirectly elected by local representative bodies, the maslikhat. Prior to 2013, they were directly appointed by the president, as remained true of akims higher up the administrative ladder at the time.
Two years later, in September 2023, Kazakhstan’s Central Election Commission announced the small towns and provincial districts that would take part in “pilot” elections for their akims.
While these elections were framed by the government as decentralization and democratic development, the results belied a more mundane truth: power remained concentrated in the hands of the powerful.
In the 2021 village akim elections – 730 of them took place on July 25 that year – some 85 percent of the winners were members of the ruling party, Nur-Otan (which rebranded as Amanat in 2022 and merged with a newly appeared party, Adilet, last week). Only 38 percent of the candidates in those elections even ran with a party affiliation. The village akim elections are the only arena open to independent candidates in Kazakhstan; all other elective offices require affiliation with a registered party.
Two years later, during the September 2023 pilot elections in three towns and 42 provincial districts, Amanat-affiliated candidates won 37 of the 45 races, about 82 percent. By and large, incumbent akims won.
During his 2024, State of the Nation address, Tokayev announced that district and city akims would all be elected via direct voting going forward. He touted the renewal of the akim corps – citing younger elected officials on average and more “entrepreneurs” – and concluded: “After thorough analysis of the election outcomes and the performance of the elected akims, we have decided to permanently shift to this new system. Moving forward, district and city akims will be elected exclusively through direct elections as the current officials’ terms end.”
In September 2025, Semey, the capital of the Abai Region – and a city of regional significance – held the country’s first direct election for a city akim.
But by November 2025, just as direct elections arrived to all remaining districts and cities of regional significance, the shine had apparently come off the idea. No matter how “permanent” the shift, Kazakhstan’s president can always change course. Tokayev suggested abolishing the district akim elections, explaining that “there are too many elections in the country, and citizens are growing tired of political campaigns.”
And now those elections have been abolished. Instead, akims for districts and cities of regional significance will be appointed by the regional akim, with the consent of the local maslikhat. Such akims can be removed by the regional akim or the president. Regional akims remain appointed by the president.
For now, village akims are still directly elected.
If earlier moves toward more direct elections were indictive of Kazakhstan’s political maturation, what should we make of the reversal of that effort?
