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Factsheet on measures to implement the 2022 State of the Nation Address to the People of Kazakhstan

Svetozár Plesník

Nur Sultan April  20, 2022

Overview

On 16 March 2022, the President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart-Tokayev delivered his Address to the Nation, “New Kazakhstan: the Path of Renewal and Modernization”. The head of state outlined significant political reforms and initiatives aimed at further transforming and modernising the country. These reforms form the basis of a New Kazakhstan.

In order to implement the reforms, on March 29 President Tokayev decreed to approve the National Action Plan to Implement the State of the Nation Address.

National Action Plan to Implement the State of the Nation Address

The implementation of the initiatives outlined in the State of the Nation Address will require about 30 amendments to the Constitution and the adoption of more than 20 laws before the end of the year.

The majority of the changes will be fully implemented by December 2022, with numerous changes to the legislation and Constitution taking place in prior months, including by April, June and August.

Below are some of the key measures to be implemented under the National Plan by the adoption of various legal documents, including constitutional law, laws and decrees of the president.

  1. On the powers of the President:
  2. Suspension of their membership in a political party for the period of their term of office, prohibition for close relatives of the President to hold positions of political civil servants and senior positions at the quasi-public sector, etc)
  3. To be implemented by June 2022
  4. Mandatory withdrawal from the party of the chairpersons and members of the Central Election Commission and other key figures
  • Reformatting the representative branch of government, including:
  • Reviewing the process of formation and a number of functions of the Senate
  • Supplementing the powers of the Senate with the right to approve candidates for the posts of Chairpersons of the Constitutional Council and the Supreme Judicial Council
  • Reducing the number of parliamentary seats in the Mazhilis by abolishing the quota of the Assembly of People of Kazakhstan
  • Establishing the right of the Mazhilis of the Parliament the right to adopt laws
  • Strengthening parliamentary control over the quality of execution of the national budget
  • Transforming the Accounts Committee for Control over the Execution of the Republican Budget into the Supreme Audit Chamber
  • implemented fully by December 2022, with several changes to legislation and Constitution implemented by June and August of 2022
  • Expanding opportunities for the development of the party system, including
  • Simplifying registration procedures for political parties
  • Modernisation of the electoral process, including:
  • Taking measures to improve the electoral process
  • Setting limits on donations to election funds
  • Ensuring maximum financial transparency of all participants in election campaigns
  • Considering the feasibility of forming a single electronic voter database
  • Strengthening human rights institutions, including:
  • Establishing a Constitutional Court
  • Assigning the exclusive jurisdiction of the Prosecutor General’s Office in cases of torture
  • Taking systematic measures to reduce the level of violence in society
  • Expanding the categories of cases subject to a jury trial
  • Introducing online broadcasts of competitive procedures of the Supreme Judicial Council
  • Confirming the decision on the abolition of the death penalty in the Constitution
  • Improving the competitiveness of the media and strengthening the role of civil society institutions, including:
  • Revising the law on media (by December 2022)
  • Developing approaches to increase the engagement of the state with civil society aimed at greater involvement of NGOs and experts in the preparation and implementation of reforms (by April 2022)
  • Establishing the National Kurultai (Congress) (by Aprill 2022)
  • Improvement of the administrative-territorial structure of the country, including:
  • Establishment of new regions in Kazakhstan (by June 2022)
  • Streamlining civil servants in the offices of akims of regions and cities of national significance (by July 2022)
  • Decentralisation and delegating authority to local government, including:
  • Separation of the functions of the state and local self-government institutions
  • Expanding the powers of maslikhats in terms of local self-government by the population
  • Considering the ratification of the European Charter of Local Self-Government
  • To be implemented by June 2022
  1. Priority anti-crisis measures, including:
  2. Implementing a comprehensive package of priority anti-crisis measures (by Aprill 2022)
  3. Taking measures to prevent shortages and rise in food prices (by June 2022)
  4. Developing a new package of structural reforms in the economy and public administration (by July 2022).
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