There have been several arrests today during protests against the parliamentary elections in the Central Asian Republic of Kazakhstan. The demonstrators called for a boycott of the vote in the metropolis of Almaty, as reported by several media.
In addition, they turned against the continued influence of former President Nursultan Nazarbayev, who had transferred the official duties to Kassym-Shomart Tokayev in spring 2019. Videos could be seen how police surrounded the demonstrators. It was a smaller group. Various reports mentioned around 30 arrests.
11.9 million voters were called to vote today. As in previous years, the ruling party Nur Otan was expected to win. Five parties were admitted to parliamentary elections. When Tokayev was elected a year and a half ago, there had already been protests against the authoritarian leadership in the ex-Soviet republic. Hundreds of people were arrested.
When casting the vote, the head of state said: „There is a mood of protest in every country in the world.“ The security forces would only act within the framework of the law.
