Kazakh parliament OKs amendments to Constitution
By Kamila Aliyeva
Kazakhstan is one step closer to the changes in the country’s ruling system that will redistribute powers between the president, government and parliament.
The Kazakh Parliament at a joint meeting of the both Chambers passed the law "On amendments and supplements to the Constitution," the Kazakh Parliament’ lower chamber reported on March 6.
The new reforms will keep the presidential form of government while strengthening the roles of the legislative and executive branches.
Parliamentary Speaker Nurlan Nigmatulin said the Constitutional reform, above all, is the further development of democracy, strengthening the basis of democracy, increasing the responsibility of Parliament and the Government, while keeping a strong presidential power.
The constitutional reform envisages transferring of some powers from president to parliament and government. It was proposed by Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev in January.
The president stressed that the reforms will create stability in the country’s political system for many years to come and an efficient mechanism to respond to modern challenges. Kazakhstan will stick to presidential republic, however, the amendments will make government system more flexible to meet the requirements of the time, according to the president. The idea was submitted to nationwide discussion and people supported the initiative.
It was originally supposed to transfer 40 powers, eventually, the project redistributes 35 powers of the Head of State. In particular, these are separate issues of economic governance, finances, state property, the powers associated with the solution of a number of questions of the administrative-territorial structure.
Under the Kazakh law, the constitution could be amended through referendum and by the parliament and the president makes the final decision which option to choose. Nazarbayev decided to pass amendments through the parliament.
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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva
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