ASTANA – The Mazhilis of the Kazakh Parliament started working on the draft law on declaring the Law on the First President of Kazakhstan invalid, reported Mazhilis’ press service following a Dec. 29 plenary session.
Photo credit: Ekaterina Bolovtsova
“This draft law is designed to implement the changes made to the Constitution following the national referendum. In particular, paragraph four of Article 46 of the Constitution, which establishes that the Constitution and the Constitutional Law determine the status and powers of the First President of Kazakhstan, has been repealed,” said Committee on Legislation and Judicial and Legal Reform Chair Arman Kozhakhmetov.
The law granted the First President, Nursultan Nazarbayev, exclusive rights and privileges, including retention of his and his family’s financial wealth and immunity from actions made while president and after that.
“The law includes numerous provisions regarding the First President. Firstly, as members of the parliament, we think that all former heads of state should have equal rights regardless of how many presidents have preceded them. Secondly, it concerns not only the Law on the First President but also other references in different laws,” said Mazhilis member Aidos Sarym.
