2005 Kazakh presidential election

On 22 June 2000, the Constitutional Council ruled that the President Nursultan Nazarbayev who was reelected in 1999 for second term, was in fact serving his first term due to the newly adopted Kazakhstan Constitution in 1995, which happened before his reelection bid. As a result, Nazarbayev was eligible to run for de-facto third term.[1]

Prominent Kazakh politician, Zharmakhan Tuyakbay, resigned as the Chair of the Mazhilis on 14 October 2004 after accusing the government of rigging the 2004 legislative elections.[2] The following month, he joined the opposition by becoming the chairman of the Coordinating Council of Democratic Forces of Kazakhstan on 23 November 2004 where he worked in drafting the new Kazakh Constitution.[3] On 20 March 2005, Tuyakbay became the chairman of newly created political movement bloc For a Just Kazakhstan and was nominated as candidate for the election which was supposed to be held in December 2006.[4][5] However in June 2005, it was announced that a snap election would be held in December 2005.[6]

Zamanbek Nurkadilov, described as the leading figure of the opposition, was unable to take part, having died shortly before the election. A former mayor of Almaty and government minister, Nurkadilov had joined the opposition. He was found shot dead in November, shortly after reportedly saying that he would go public with documents proving government corruption. Near his body was "a pillow pierced by bullets that may have been used as a silencer". The official cause of death was presented as suicide, with a report stating that Nurkadilov had shot himself twice in the chest and then once in the head.[7][8][9]

Onalsyn Zhumabekov, Chairman of Kazakhstan's Central Election Commission, declared the election valid. About 1,600 observers monitored the election, including 465 from the influential Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

Bruce George, coordinator for observers from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, was highly critical of the election: "Regrettably, despite some efforts which were undertaken to improve the process, the authorities did not exhibit sufficient political will to hold a genuinely good election."

The OSCE has gone on record noting the following issues with the election "Unauthorized persons interfering in polling stations, cases of multiple voting, ballot box stuffing and pressure on students to vote were observed during voting and during the count, observers saw tampering with result protocols and a wide range of procedural violations."

Nazarbayev's main challenger, Zharmakhan Tuyakbay, refused to concede the race. He called for the Supreme Court of Kazakhstan to annul the election results by alleged voter fraud that was committed by the Central Election Commission.[10][11] However the court found no violations and as result, Tuyakbay's claims were dismissed on 23 December 2005.[12]