ASTANA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th October, 2022) Kazakhstan on Monday registered Zhiguli Dairabayev, a member of the Auyl People's Democratic Patriotic Party and representative of the Atameken national chamber of entrepreneurs, as the third candidate to run in the snap presidential election, Nurlan Abdirov, the chairman of the Kazakh central election commission (CEC), said.
"All the documents... have been received on time. Thus, all the procedures necessary for registering the candidate for Kazakh president have been observed," Abdirov said at a CEC meeting/
The commission proceeded to formally register Dairabayev as a candidate.
CEC member Assylbek Smagulov said that according to the protocols of local election commissions, Dairabayev's proxies have collected signatures of 125,081 citizens in support of the candidate, with 122,246 of the signatures verified and 119,975 recognized as reliable.
Earlier in October, the Kazakh election commission also registered incumbent President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and female civil activist Karakat Abden as candidates in the snap presidential election scheduled for November 20.
A candidate for the Kazakh presidency must be a Kazakh-born citizen aged at least 40, who has been living in the country for the past 15 years. They must be fluent in the Kazakh language and have a university degree, as well as work experience in public service or in elected positions.
Tokayev, whose presidential term was scheduled to expire in 2024, proposed holding an early presidential election after the parliament introduced changes to the country's constitution last month.
