Less than three years after launching direct pilot elections for 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” – amend the procedure for selecting akims at the level of districts and “cities of regional significance”, removing 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 are located. “Akim” in Kazakhstan refers to the head of a local government – whether a village, city, district or region. He’s like a mayor or a governor.
In 2021, Kazakhstan introduced direct election of Akims of the village. At the time, as Colleen Wood recounted: “President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said about the reform that paved the way for the election of Akims: “It is not only a sign of sufficient maturity of our political system, but also a serious step in the democratic development of our society.”
This change allowed villagers to directly choose their local leaders for the first time. Previously, as Wood explains, since 2013, village akims were elected indirectly by local representative bodies, the maslikhat. Before 2013, they were directly appointed by the president, as was the case at the time for akims higher up in the administrative ladder.
Two years later, in September 2023, the Central Election Commission of Kazakhstan announced which small cities and provincial districts would participate in “pilot” elections for their akims.
While these elections were presented by the government as decentralization and democratic development, the results belied a more banal truth: power remained concentrated in the hands of the powerful.
In the 2021 village akim elections – 730 of them took place on July 25 of the same year – about 85 percent of the winners were members of the ruling Nur-Otan party (which renamed Amanat in 2022 and merged with a newly emerged party, Adiletlast week). Only 38 percent of candidates in these elections ran with a party affiliation. Village akim elections are the only arena open to independent candidates in Kazakhstan; all other elected positions require registered party affiliation.
Two years laterIn September 2023 pilot elections in three cities and 42 provincial districts, Amanat-affiliated candidates won 37 of 45 races, or about 82 percent. Overall, the ruling akims won.
During its 2024, State of the Nation AddressTokayev announced that district and city akims would now all be directly elected. He praised the revival of the akim corps – citing on average younger elected officials and more “entrepreneurs” – and concluded: “After a thorough analysis of the election results and the performance of the elected akims, we have decided to permanently switch to this new system. In the future, district and city akims will be elected exclusively through direct elections at the end of the term of office of current officials.”
In September 2025Semey, the capital of the Abai region – and a city of regional importance – held the country’s first direct election for an akim city.
But by November 2025As direct elections came to all remaining districts and towns of regional importance, the idea had apparently lost its luster. No matter how “permanent” he may be, the president of Kazakhstan can always change course. Tokayev suggested abolishing district akim elections, explaining that “there are too many elections in the country and citizens are tired of political campaigns.”
And now these elections have been abolished. Instead, the akims of districts and towns of regional importance will be appointed by the regional akim, with the consent of the local maslikhat. These akims can be revoked by the regional akim or by the president. Regional akims remain appointed by the president.
For the moment, village akims are still directly elected.
If previous efforts toward more direct elections were indicative of Kazakhstan’s political maturation, what should we make of the reversal of that effort?