Kurultai of Kazakhstan

The Kurultai of the Republic of Kazakhstan is Kazakhstan's unicameral national legislature. It was created through constitutional reforms in 2026 that replaced the country's previous bicameral Parliament, composed of the Senate and the Mäjilis. The new institution is intended to serve as the state's sole legislative authority, with responsibility for adopting laws, approving the national budget, and exercising parliamentary oversight of the executive branch. The institution's name draws on the historical Turkic and Mongolic term kurultai, generally associated with a formal assembly or great council. The word is linked to roots meaning to gather or assemble and has been used historically for political, military, and communal councils across the Eurasian steppe. In the political traditions connected with the Kazakh Khanate, gatherings of khans, sultans, biys, and clan elders addressed questions of war, peace, customary law, diplomacy, and relations among communities. These assemblies were periodic and consultative rather than permanent legislatures, but the name provides the modern institution with a direct reference to regional and Kazakh political history. The modern constitutional background of the Kurultai lies in Kazakhstan's post-independence institutional development. After independence in 1991, Kazakhstan adopted a constitutional framework in 1995 that established a bicameral Parliament. The Senate and Mäjilis remained the two chambers of the national legislature until the 2026 reform. According to the referenced account, a constitutional referendum approved the restructuring of the legislative branch, after which the bicameral Parliament was dissolved and replaced by the Kurultai. The Kurultai is designed to contain 145 deputies. All deputies are elected through proportional representation in a single nationwide electoral district. Candidates must be citizens of Kazakhstan, at least 25 years old, and have resided in the country for the preceding ten years. Deputies serve five-year terms. These rules create a national rather than chamber-based electoral structure and distinguish the Kurultai from the former bicameral arrangement. The institution is headed by a Chairman elected by secret ballot from among deputies who are fluent in Kazakh. The Chairman must receive a majority of the total membership. The President of Kazakhstan nominates the candidate. If the Kurultai rejects the presidential nominee twice, the President may dissolve the legislature. Deputy chairmen are elected by the deputies, with their candidacies proposed by the Chairman or chairmen. The Constitutional Law on the Kurultai of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Status of Its Deputies was signed by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on 5 June 2026, according to the supplied reference material. It was stated to enter into force on 1 July 2026 together with the new constitution, formally establishing the Kurultai as the national legislature. Because the institution and its operating record are tied to the 2026 constitutional transition, information about its actual membership, leadership, legislative output, committees, and political performance remains limited in the available material.

The name Kurultai refers to a form of assembly with deep roots in the political history of the Eurasian steppe. Derived from Turkic and Mongolic linguistic roots associated with gathering or assembling, the term traditionally described councils convened to deliberate on matters affecting political communities. In Mongol imperial history, kurultais were associated with decisions such as the selection or proclamation of rulers and the coordination of major military campaigns. In the historical territories of present-day Kazakhstan, related councils brought together political leaders and community authorities. During the era of the Kazakh Khanate, approximately from the fifteenth through the eighteenth centuries, khans, sultans, biys, and clan elders gathered to discuss war, peace, customary law, alliances, and relations among tribes and other political groups. These institutions were not permanent parliaments in the modern constitutional sense. Rather, they were periodic and often crisis-driven assemblies that relied on consultation, negotiation, and consensus among influential participants. The historical association nevertheless gives the modern Kurultai a symbolic connection to indigenous political traditions. Traditional steppe governance structures lost their formal institutional role after the incorporation of the region into the Russian Empire during the nineteenth century and the imposition of Soviet administrative systems during the twentieth century. National congresses connected with the Alash movement briefly revived the idea of collective political representation in a modern national setting during the early twentieth century, but Soviet administrative institutions subsequently replaced those experiments. Following Kazakhstan's independence in 1991, the country adopted the 1995 constitutional framework, which created a bicameral Parliament consisting of the Senate and the Mäjilis. That system provided the main national legislative structure until the constitutional reorganization described in the supplied reference material. In 2026, a constitutional reform approved by national referendum transformed the legislative branch into a unicameral body named the Kurultai. The reform abolished the previous bicameral Parliament and designated the Kurultai as the Republic of Kazakhstan's sole legislative authority. Its stated functions include passing laws, approving the state budget, and overseeing the executive branch. The new institution was established through the Constitutional Law on the Kurultai of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Status of Its Deputies, which the reference states was signed by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on 5 June 2026. The law was described as taking effect on 1 July 2026, simultaneously with the new constitution. The Kurultai is structured as a 145-member legislature. Deputies are elected under proportional representation from a single nationwide electoral district and serve five-year terms. Eligibility requires Kazakhstani citizenship, a minimum age of 25, and ten years of residence in Kazakhstan. The leadership model provides for a Chairman elected by secret ballot from among deputies fluent in Kazakh. The President nominates the Chairman, while the Kurultai elects the nominee by a majority of all deputies. If the legislature rejects the presidential nominee twice, the President is empowered to dissolve the Kurultai. Deputy chairmen are elected by the deputies from candidates proposed by the Chairman or chairmen. As a newly established institution, the Kurultai has limited documented institutional history in the supplied material. Its eventual political significance will depend on the composition of its membership, the practical operation of its electoral system, the distribution of authority between the legislature and executive, and the legislative record produced after the 2026 transition.

• 2026

  Constitutional reform creates the Kurultai

  [1]Kurultai (Kazakhstan)en.wikipedia.org

  A constitutional reform replaced Kazakhstan's bicameral Parliament with a unicameral legislature called the Kurultai.

• 2026

  Founding law signed

  [1]Kurultai (Kazakhstan)en.wikipedia.org

  The Constitutional Law on the Kurultai of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Status of Its Deputies was stated to have been signed on 5 June 2026.

• 2026

  Kurultai law enters into force

  [1]Kurultai (Kazakhstan)en.wikipedia.org

  The supplied reference states that the founding law and new constitution took effect on 1 July 2026.

• 1995

  Bicameral Parliament established

  [1]Kurultai (Kazakhstan)en.wikipedia.org

  Kazakhstan's post-independence constitutional framework established a bicameral Parliament consisting of the Senate and the Mäjilis.

• 1991

  Kazakhstan becomes independent

  [1]Kurultai (Kazakhstan)en.wikipedia.org

  Kazakhstan's independence created the setting for the development of a national constitutional and legislative system separate from Soviet institutions.

Kazakhstan's sole national legislative and parliamentary institution after the 2026 constitutional restructuring.

• 2026

  Replace the bicameral Parliament with a unicameral KurultaiStrategy

  Background

  A constitutional reform reorganized Kazakhstan's legislative branch and ended the Senate–Mäjilis parliamentary structure that had operated under the 1995 constitutional framework.

  Action taken

  The reform created a single 145-member legislature elected by proportional representation in one nationwide electoral district.

  Aftermath

  The Kurultai became the country's sole legislative authority, with responsibility for legislation, budget approval, and oversight of the executive branch.

  Source

• 2026

  Adopt eligibility and leadership rules for deputiesOther

  Background

  The founding constitutional law defined the composition, electoral qualifications, terms, and leadership arrangements of the new legislature.

  Action taken

  It set a minimum deputy age of 25, required ten years of residence in Kazakhstan, established five-year terms, and provided for a Chairman elected by the deputies from a presidential nominee.

  Aftermath

  The rules established the formal operating framework for the Kurultai and gave the President a limited dissolution power if the legislature rejected the nominated Chairman twice.

  Source

1. 1Kurultai (Kazakhstan)en.wikipedia.org