What’s in Kazakhstan’s Constitutional Referendum? – The Diplomat

On June 5, Kazakhs will vote on a package deal of reforms intended to transform the nation from a super-presidential system to a “presidential system with a strong parliament.”

Six months after Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev called protesters terrorists and requested support from the Russian-backed Collective Security Treaty Organization to quell mass unrest, citizens will take part in a referendum on constitutional reforms. 

The vote will happen on June 5, only one month after the proposed reforms have been launched. The reform bundle addresses 33 separate articles – about one third of the entire constitutional articles – and was developed by a working group that Tokayev established in March. The reforms are said to rework Kazakhstan from a super-presidential system to a “presidential system with a strong parliament,” per Tokayev’s state of the union address on March 16.

An excellent-presidential system is one the place parliaments and courts are only nominally independent, and the president and their administration have nearly unlimited control over political decision-making. Kazakhstan’s first step to a super-presidential system was the adoption of a brand new structure in 1995 that was pushed by Nursultan Nazarbayev after dissolving an uncooperative parliament. Nazarbayev further consolidated his personal powers with constitutional amendments in 1998, 2007, and 2011.

Nazarbayev started to loosen the president’s management with constitutional amendments in 2017 that slightly redistributed presidential powers to different branches of government and opened the trail for the election of local representatives, no less than on the village stage. Nevertheless, Nazarbayev slyly maintained his personal management over Kazakhstan’s politics by together with provisions that protected him as “elbasy,” or leader of the nation.

Get briefed on the story of the week, and growing stories to observe across the Asia-Pacific.

The proposed constitutional reforms strip the structure of mentions of elbasy and the First President of the Republic, which some see as a continued sign of the Nazarbayev family’s fall from grace. 

Enjoying this article? Click on right here to subscribe for full access. Just $5 a month.

Along with sidelining Nazarbayev, several proposed provisions would barely restrict the ability of the president. The president shouldn't be a member of a political party, which member of the working group Sara Idrysheva known as “the bravest step of our esteemed president.” In anticipation of this amendment, Tokayev stepped down as chairman of the Amanat party – a rebranded version of Nazarbayev’s ruling Nur Otan get together – on April 26. Additionally, the president can not override the acts of akims of oblasts, major cities, or the capital and close relations of the president can't maintain political posts.

A number of proposed measures give parliament extra energy vis-a-vis the president. Kazakhstan’s parliament will remain bicameral, however the distribution of power between the upper and decrease homes will shift somewhat. The Senate will not have the power to make new laws, and as an alternative will just approve or reject legal guidelines handed by the Mazhilis. Furthermore, the method for selecting deputies to each homes will change. 

First, the Mazhilis will be decreased to 98 deputies, following the abolition of 9 seats appointed by the Meeting of the Peoples of Kazakhstan. These seats might be transferred to the Senate, and the Meeting of the Peoples will now only get to appoint 5 deputies. The variety of deputies appointed by the president will be diminished from 15 to 10.

Second, Mazhilis deputies will likely be elected in line with a combined system. Seventy p.c of Mazhilis deputies shall be chosen by proportional elections, and 30 p.c will probably be straight elected.

The only proposed changes to the judicial system relate to the reestablishment of the Constitutional Courtroom. Kazakhstan had a Constitutional Court till the adoption of the 1995 constitution, which instituted a weaker constitutional council. The president still maintains a powerful affect over the Constitutional Courtroom’s makeup, however, with the flexibility to pick out the court’s chairman and four of the judges; parliament chooses the other three.

Tokayev has emphasized the importance of local governance, marked by the first-ever direct election of village akims and plans to introduce three new oblasts that may carry government bodies closer to the populations they represent. Maybe essentially the most disappointing facet of proposed reforms is the dearth of serious motion on native representation for residents of Kazakhstan’s largest cities. If the referendum passes, Kazakhstanis will get to vote for akims of oblasts, main cities, and the capital – nonetheless, the candidates can have been chosen by the president. The suitable to elect native management has been probably the most constant demands from Almaty residents, and this try and create selection is finally beauty.

The proposed reforms are vital steps towards actual consultant authorities in Kazakhstan; nevertheless, they don't essentially constitute ahead movement. Many of the amendments are merely reinstating mechanisms of checks on presidential energy that beforehand existed, somewhat than materially changing the connection between state and society, as Tokayev claims.