In the first convocation of the Kurultai, women received 49 of 145 deputy mandates. Their share was 33.79%, the highest level of female representation in Kazakhstan's supreme representative body since independence. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
Political scientist Almas Aubekerov drew attention to the statistics. For comparison, in the VIII convocation of parliament, women held 32 of 159 seats in both chambers — 20.13%. In the VII convocation, there were 45 out of 198, or 22.73%. This indicator was the maximum before the formation of the Kurultai.
The fewest women in parliament were in the III convocation — 11 out of 127 deputies, or 8.66%. In the VI convocation, their share was 20.57%, in the V — 18.13%.
Looking at the Mazhilis separately, the most women were in the VI convocation — 31 out of 117 deputies, or 26.5%. In the VIII convocation, their share dropped to 18.87% — 20 out of 106 deputies.
In the Senate, the maximum indicator was recorded in the VIII convocation: 12 out of 53 deputies, or 22.64%. For comparison, in the IV convocation, women held only 4.11% of seats.
"The new Kurultai has set an absolute historical record for the representation of women in the highest representative bodies of Kazakhstan in the entire history of independence," Aubekerov noted.
Earlier, Kursiv reported that the first convocation of the Kurultai formed eight standing committees and elected their chairpersons. They will be responsible for areas ranging from economy, budget, and energy to social policy, security, and digitalization.