New Delhi, Jan 13 (IANS) Kazakhs in Delhi can vote in the snap Kazakhstan elections Sunday that will bring an end to one-party democracy in the oil-rich Central Asian republic, according to an embassy official.

“The embassy of Kazakhstan in New Delhi will be also opened for citizens of Kazakhstan who live in India to vote for the Sunday elections from here,” an embassy spokesperson said.

The Central Asian nation is holding a pre-term parliamentary vote after President Nursultan Nazarbayev enacted a new law to ensure that the second-placed party in the polls gets into parliament.

Nazarbayev’s Nur-Otan party currently holds all seats of parliament. According to earlier election law, any party that falls below the seven percent voting threshold won’t get into parliament.

But this has been changed now and the runner-up party in the polls will also get representatives in parliament according to the vote percentages it secures.

The elections are being held after a public turmoil in the western oil city of Zhanaozen, which had been kept under a state of emergency last month.

At least 14 people were killed in the Zhanaozen riots. The elections in the city would be held as per schedule even as Zhanaozen was returning to normalcy after the violence.

The president earlier this week overturned a move by the country’s constitutional council to cancel voting in Zhanaozen.

The snap Kazakh poll is seen an attempt by the president to stabilise the nation of 16 million people and introduce democratic reforms.

Kazakhstan with its huge oil and energy reserves is making an increasing contribution to global fuel production. It has planned ambitious projects to boost energy output involving several of the world’s biggest companies.