Chairman of Mazhilis Pays Courtesy Call on President Khurelsukh
The State Visit of President Khurelsukh Ukhnaa to Kazakhstan is ongoing. During the visit, Chairman of the Mazhilis (lower house of Parliament) of Kazakhstan, Yerlan Koshanov, paid a courtesy call on President Khurelsukh.
At the meeting, the two sides exchanged views on bilateral relations and cooperation. President Khurelsukh expressed satisfaction with the growing and active cooperation in recent years between the State Great Khural (Parliament) of Mongolia and the Mazhilis of Kazakhstan.
He emphasized that inter-parliamentary cooperation plays a vital role in expanding the “strategic partnership” and strengthening political trust. He also highlighted the leading role of parliaments in adopting legislation aimed at creating a favorable environment for trade, economic cooperation, and investment, and stressed the importance of enhancing collaboration between friendship groups, standing committees, and parliamentary secretariats.
The President invited Kazakh female members of parliament to participate in the World Women Parliamentarians’ Conference to be held in Ulaanbaatar this October under his auspices. President Khurelsukh also congratulated Kazakhstan on successfully organizing the national referendum on its new Constitution, marking a new stage of development for the country, and wished success to the future “Kurultai,” the new legislative body to be established under the revised Constitution.
Chairman of the Mazhilis, Yerlan Koshanov, is a mechanical engineer and economist by profession. He has served as Chairman of the Mazhilis since 2022 and was elected Chairman of the ruling Amanat Party in the same year.
Kazakhstan’s Parliament currently consists of two chambers: the Senate (upper house) and the Mazhilis (lower house). The Senate has 50 members, of whom 40 are elected by local representative bodies, and 10 are appointed by the President, including five from the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan. Senators serve five-year terms, with half renewed every three years.
Following constitutional amendments in 2022, the Mazhilis has 98 seats, with 70 percent elected through proportional representation by party lists and 30 percent through a majoritarian system in single-member constituencies. Members serve five-year terms.
Under the new Constitution, which will come into force this July, the bicameral parliament will be abolished and replaced by a unicameral legislature, the “Kurultai,” consisting of 154 members.
