Kazakhstan is holding parliamentary elections under a new constitution, with voting beginning at 7 a.m. local time and scheduled to continue until 8 p.m. The new system will replace the former bicameral parliament with a 145-member unicameral legislature. All seven registered political parties are participating in the election.

Analysts say the ruling Adilet party, led by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, is almost certain to win. They describe the vote as an effort to further consolidate Tokayev’s power and reduce the remaining political influence of former president Nursultan Nazarbayev. Concerns persist over the future of democracy because independent candidates cannot contest the election and genuine opposition parties are effectively absent.

The source says the European Union is unlikely to react harshly to Kazakhstan’s deteriorating political situation. Central Asia has gained importance to Europe as an alternative trade route and energy source following the Ukraine war, and Kazakhstan was the EU’s second-largest oil supplier in 2025. Analysts expect Kazakhstan to balance ties with the EU, Russia and China while expanding relations with Arab and East Asian countries.

Once the world’s fourth-largest lake, the Aral Sea—spanning Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan—has now shrunk to less than one-tenth of its original size. Once a thriving source of fish and livelihood for local communities, the sea’s ports now stand abandoned, and its exposed seabed has turned into a toxic, saline desert. The United Nations Development Programme has described the situation as one of the twentieth century’s most severe environmental disasters.

The crisis began in the 1960s when Soviet irrigation projects diverted the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers to support cotton cultivation, drastically reducing water inflow. As evaporation outpaced replenishment, the sea fragmented into smaller bodies, and the newly exposed land became known as the Aralkum Desert, one of the world’s youngest deserts.

In response to the ongoing environmental degradation, Central Asian leaders recently convened in Kazakhstan’s capital, Astana, to discuss joint water resource management and strategies to prevent further damage to the region’s fragile ecosystem.