Mejlis

The Mejlis (Iradi: Mejlis; Russian: Меджлис) is the common name of the Territorial Legislature of Irad, the single-chamber legislature of the Irad Special Economic Zone (ISEZ). It has 60 members, elected every four years on the same day as the Governor, and meets in Legislative Hall in Talas. The Democratic Party of Irad (DPI) has held a large majority since 2007; in the 2023 election it won 51 seats. The Speaker since 2019 has been Nurbek Sultanov of the DPI.^[1][2]

Name

The chamber's statutory name is the Territorial Legislature, which the ISEZ kept from the American territorial period in line with its doctrine of "suspended sovereignty". In Iradi it has always been called the Mejlis, a word for an assembly or council used across the Turkic and Persian world (compare Majlis), and the Iradi name is the one used in speech, in the press and on IradOne. Official English texts use the territorial name; Russian-language media write Меджлис.^[1]

Organization

Members are elected in eight multi-member constituencies: the three cities of governorate significance (Talas, Nurzhan and Iyık Janyl) and the districts of Talas, Kara-Buura, Chu, Sary-Bulak and Lower Naryn, whose constituency has also covered Toktogul District since that district was created in 2016. Seats are shared by the largest-remainder method among party lists and independents (see Elections in Irad).^[2] A Speaker elected from the majority presides, and the standing committees of the territorial era, among them Ways and Means, Mineral and Energy Resources, Public Works and Inter-Ethnic Affairs, have been retained. Debates are held in Iradi and English, with interpretation into Russian.^[1]

The Mejlis passes the budget, confirms the justices of the Supreme Court of Irad and other senior appointments, and may amend the territorial statutes that serve as the ISEZ's basic law, including the Elective Governor Acts. Bills need the Governor's assent. Since 2007 much policy has been made by executive decree and directive, and analysts describe the chamber as subordinate to the Governor's office.^[3] The Governor takes the oath of office in Legislative Hall; Erlan Toktarov last did so on 27 November 2023.^[2]

Composition

Seats won since the first regular ISEZ election of 2011, which replaced the provisional chamber of 2007–2011:^[2]

Most independents vote with the DPI. The Russo-aligned deputies, all elected in Nurzhan on civic lists, are the only consistent opposition in the chamber (see Russos of Nurzhan).^[4]

Recent business

In June 2013 the Mejlis removed the Governor's two-term limit by 53 votes to 4, with three abstentions; police dispersed small protests outside Legislative Hall (see 2013 Constitutional Amendment). In 2026 the chamber declined a request by the three Russo-aligned deputies for a hearing on the health of the Governor, who has not appeared in public since July 2024. Their lawyers then petitioned the Supreme Court on the inability clause of the Elective Governor Acts; the government called the questions hypothetical and a matter for the legislature, and no hearing had been scheduled as of October 2026 (see 2024 Iradi Executive Transition Crisis).^[5] The next election to the Mejlis is due on 2 November 2027.

The Autonomous Tribal Regions are not represented. At the 2011 Bilateral Reunification Summit the DPI offered the Iradi Freedom Society one-third of the seats in a reunified legislature, and the IAC delegation walked out.^[3]

See also

• Territorial Legislature of Irad
• Elections in Irad
• 2027 Iradi gubernatorial election

References

1. ^ Central Asian Policy Review (2023). 'Institutional Legacies of the American Territorial Era in Irad.' Academic Press, pp. 112–129.
2. ^ OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (2023). Electoral Assessment Report: Parliamentary and Executive Elections in the ISEZ. Warsaw.
3. ^ Eurasian Political Quarterly (2024). 'Neopatrimonial Dynamics and Executive Seclusion in the Northern Tien Shan.' Vol. 31, Iss. 2, pp. 112–130.
4. ^ Eurasian Political Quarterly (2021). 'Russos in Municipal Politics: Nurzhan since 1992.' Vol. 28, No. 2, pp. 77–96.
5. ^ Talas Herald (September 2026). 'Supreme Court Petition on Governor's Health Awaits Listing.' Talas.