Rukhaniyat Party in Court

- On 6 January, a civil court in Astana started to examine the lawsuit of the Rukhaniyat political party demanding the decision of the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Kazakhstan to disqualify the party from the forthcoming parliamentary election be cancelled.

As reported, in late December the CEC disqualified Rukhaniyat from the parliamentary election after the Prosecutor-General's Office found irregularities in the party's application for registration.

Earlier Altynshash Zhaganova, the former leader and founder of Rukhaniyat accused Serikzhan Mambetalin, who has replaced her, of fraud and demanded that the party should not be allowed to participate in the forthcoming election.

On 9 January, at the same civil Court, the hearings will be carried on.