As is known, the draft amendments and additions to the Constitution are under consideration by the Constitutional Council. The amendments will affect 33 articles of the Basic Law, which are, in fact, a third of the Constitution, which shows the scale and fundamental nature of the planned reform.
It may be very difficult for a non-specialist to navigate through such a large number of amendments. Meanwhile, all these amendments are interconnected with each other and have a common conceptual logic. Therefore, when discussing individual points, it is important not to miss the big picture as a whole.
The goal of the constitutional reform is a systemic transformation of the current political model.
1. There will be a redistribution of a number of powers: both from the President to the Parliament, and from the central government to the regional ones.
2. The final transition from the super-presidential model to the presidential republic will be completed. A classical model is being established, where the president is an equidistant political institution that does not have any super-exclusive powers and privileges.
3. The role and status of the chambers of the Parliament will be strengthened: the introduction of a mixed model for the formation of the Mazhilis, the expansion of the control functions of the Parliament, the optimisation of legislative procedures.
4. The participation of the population in the governance of the country will expand: elections of deputies to the Mazhilis in single-mandate constituencies, the introduction of a mechanism for recalling deputy mandates, the appointment of governors of regions on an alternative basis with the consent of deputies of maslikhats (local parliaments).
5. Mechanisms for protecting the constitutional rights of citizens will be strengthened: a Constitutional Court is being created, the Commissioner for Human Rights is provided with constitutional guarantees and immunity, and the death penalty is prohibited at the constitutional level.
Thus, as a result of the reforms, a new, more optimal balance of relations between the branches of government and an effective dialogue between the state and society will be built. All this creates the basis for the transition to a new model of government – the Second Republic.
Originally published on the State Secretary’s Telegram channel
