ASTANA – State Counselor Erlan Karin wrapped up the results of the country’s reforms over the past two years and reflected on the coming tasks to raise public consciousness and form new social ethics in his Telegram post on Dec. 29.
According to Karin, 2023 has become another year that changed Kazakhstan.
“These were not just reforms that rebooted the overall design of the political system and laid the foundation for a new economic model. These were also stories, experiencing which, citizens realized the need for change, including changes in social values and norms,” he said.
Erlan Karin. Photo credit: Karin’s Instagram archive
The first half of 2023, Karin wrote, witnessed the implementation of political reforms, which started back in 2022. The Constitutional Court began work from Jan. 1; the country held elections to the Senate on Jan. 14, Mazhilis and maslikhats according to new rules on March 19, and strengthened the status of the Commissioner for Human Rights.
“In the second half of 2023, the focus of state policy gradually shifted to tasks of rebooting the system of national values. This work began with the President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s speech at the second meeting of the National Kurultai on June 17 in Turkistan, when he outlined a list of the main ideologies: independence and patriotism, unity and stability, justice and solidarity, law and order, trust and responsibility, cult of knowledge and professionalism, thrift and hard work,” Karin outlined.
He mentioned that various happenings in the country subsequently showed the relevance of this task.
“Public discussions revolved around the need to maintain the principles of law and order, protect the rights of women and children, stop domestic violence, combat vandalism and incivility, etc. This shows that society experiences an increasing demand for the formation and observance of new norms of personal and public culture,” he said.
Karin highlighted that Kazakhstan is moving to a new, more complex, but very important transformation – the formation of a new quality of the nation.
“Unlike the political reforms, it is not enough to change legislation or establish new institutions. It is impossible to accelerate the evolution of social consciousness. This is a gradual, progressive and natural process. It can only be directed and moderated so that new social ethics becomes the basis of a renewed national mentality. And this may become the main content of the public agenda for the next 2024,” he emphasized.
