Changes in political system of Kazakhstan

The closest relatives of the President will not be able to hold any political positions and head quasi-government structures. Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, giving an address to the people of Kazakhstan, said that this would be prohibited by law. “The Head of State must act as an unshakable guarantor of equal opportunities for all citizens,” the President noted. He also announced the type of changes the Parliament will face. Thus, according to him, the Mazhilis is now vested with the right to adopt laws. The Senate will only approve or disapprove these bills. “The Lower House should reflect the entire electoral landscape of the country without giving artificial preferences to anyone,” Kassym-Jomart Tokayev stressed.

“Therefore, we will abolish the quota the Assembly of Peoples of Kazakhstan has in the Mazhilis, which, in my opinion, is a correct decision from a political and legal point of view. This quota is transferred to the Senate and is diminished from nine to five members. Accordingly, the total number of MP seats in the Mazhilis will decrease. As the saying goes, less is more,” said Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of Kazakhstan.

Changes are expected in almost the entire political system of Kazakhstan. Thus, the procedures for registration of parties will be simplified. It will be enough to have only 5,000 members for this, instead of 20,000. In addition, the minimum number of participants in an initiative group of citizens that wants to create a party will be reduced by almost a third, from 1,000 to 700 people.

Translation and editing by Galiya Khassenkhanova