The Kazakh parliament approved a vote of confidence on 19 May in the government of Kazakh Prime Minister Imanghaliy Tasmaghambetov. The vote had been scheduled for 16 May, but was postponed. Fifty-five deputies of the Mazhilis (lower house) voted against the government and 18 for it, while three senators voted against the government and 34 voted for it, according to the report. A two-thirds vote against the government would have been required in order for the vote to be considered an expression of no confidence. Tasmaghambetov had called for the vote of confidence because of his dissatisfaction with amendments that the Mazhilis attached to a government-drafted Land Code. He has said that if the confidence vote went in favor of his government, the code would be considered adopted as written, without a further vote and without any of the amendments approved by the Mazhilis. This is the first time a law has been adopted without having been approved by the Senate. (khabar.kz)