Kazakhstan’s Tokayev: “The new reforms are equivalent to a new constitution.”

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Kazakhstan's Tokayev: "The new reforms are equivalent to a new constitution."

It is a real constitutional reform that the president of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, presented in Kyzylorda today, January 20, at the fifth session of the National Congress, a consultative body whose abolition the head of state himself announced. The most important of the changes concerns the new unicameral parliament, which will be called the Congress (Qurultay), with a structure designed to be “streamlined and functional.” The Kazakh parliament currently consists of a 98-member Assembly (Majlis) and a 40-member Senate (the latter elected by the regions and the municipalities of Almaty, Astana, and Shymkent, with a quarter appointed by the president). According to the proposal outlined by the head of state, the new Congress would have a total of 145 seats, three vice-presidents, and no more than eight parliamentary committees. Deputies would serve five-year terms. Tokayev explained that this configuration would allow for a more effective functioning of the legislative body and a greater focus on the country’s development priorities. The reform also provides for deputies to be elected according to the principle of proportional representation, a measure that, according to Tokayev, will strengthen the institutional role of political parties and increase their accountability to society.

While acknowledging that some political forces have proposed extending the proportional system to maslikhat (local governments) at all levels, the President has made it clear that he believes it is necessary to maintain the majority system in the regions. The new institutional architecture should also include the abolition of both the presidential quota and the reserved quota for the People’s Assembly of Kazakhstan, which comprises delegates from regional assemblies. At the same time, a new consultative platform called the People’s Council (Khalyk Kenesi) will be established, which will assume the functions currently performed by both the People’s Assembly and the National Congress. The new body, the Head of State explained, will ensure the representation of all ethnic groups and the country’s main social communities, including representatives of civil society and public associations. The status and procedures for the formation of the People’s Council will be enshrined in a separate section of the Constitution and governed by a specific constitutional law. According to the announcement, the Council will consist of 126 members: 42 representatives of ethno-cultural associations, 42 representatives of maslikhat, and 42 representatives of public organizations. Meetings of the People’s Council will be held once a year.

Another of the new measures announced by Tokayev in Kyzylorda is the reinstatement of the office of Vice President of the Republic, which will be enshrined in the constitution, abolishing the current office of State Councilor, currently held by Yerlan Karin. The president noted that the role of vice president is not entirely new in Kazakhstan’s history. The office existed between 1991 and 1996 and was held by a single person, Yerik Assanbayev. Finally, Tokayev proposed introducing into the Constitution a requirement to hold extraordinary presidential elections in the event of the early termination of the head of state’s powers. Currently, Tokayev noted, the Constitution provides that if the president is unable to perform his duties, powers for the remainder of his term pass to the president of the Senate. If the president is also unable to assume office, presidential authority is transferred successively to other state officials. “In the event of an early termination of presidential powers, the provision requiring extraordinary elections within two months must be clearly enshrined in the Constitution,” the head of state emphasized. According to Tokayev, such a provision would be in line with international best practices, as any head of state must come to power exclusively through elections and on a fully legitimate legal basis. The introduction of this provision, he added, would ensure transparency and legality in the transfer of power, while also strengthening the country’s institutional stability.

These new reforms underway, the President stated, are comparable in scope to the adoption of a new Constitution. Tokayev explained that the initial parliamentary reform plan envisaged amendments to approximately 40 articles of the Constitution, but that during the work of the working group he himself established, the need for much more extensive interventions emerged. “Thirty-three articles of the Constitution were updated in 2022. The next amendments will be even more extensive. Essentially, we are on the threshold of a step equivalent to the adoption of a new Constitution,” the President stated, addressing members of the National Congress. As part of this process, the President also announced the creation of a Constitutional Commission, the founding decree of which will be signed tomorrow, January 21. The new commission will consist of over 100 members, including representatives of the National Congress, prominent jurists, media executives, presidents of Maslikhat, and members of regional public councils. Its work will be coordinated by the President of the Constitutional Court of Kazakhstan. According to Tokayev, the commission will be tasked with examining and organizing all the proposals, and then drafting specific amendments. Only after that, the president specified, will the timing of a possible national referendum be determined.