Is Kazakhstan moving towards real democracy?
Every seat in parliament currently belongs to the party of President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Nur Otan.
But a new election law passed three years ago means that at least two seats in the new parliament will be held by the party that comes second, no matter what share of the vote it polls.
Yet no real opposition has been permitted to stand and the president’s party is assured a huge majority.
The elections have taken place in the shadow of protests and violence that erupted last month - the worst Kazakhstan has seen since its independence 20 years ago.
