The Republic of Kazakhstan is a presidential form of government. Formation and evolution of the form of government of the independent republic of Kazakhstan
The history of the constitution in any country is integral to the history of society and the state. Each successive stage of their development is characterized by new moments in socio-economic and political relations, the implementation of state functions, changes in the form of government, etc.
At the same time, the constitutional development of Kazakhstan, in our opinion, should not be reduced only to the appearance of acts formally called constitutions: it is necessary to take into account the totality of acts of constitutional level and significance, since they all together represented or represent the image of the constitution for their period.
When we talk about the constitutional development of the state and society, we mean, firstly, the historical process of the formation of constitutional legislation as a whole, i.e. the study can go from the appearance of the first constitutional acts to the currently valid constitution. This historical process, from stage to stage, develops along lines characterized by both the continuity of ideas and principles underlying successive constitutions, and the cessation of outdated norms, as a result of which the previous fundamental law ceases to be in effect. However, it seems that
Each subsequent constitution preserves everything that is viable and meets the new conditions of constitutional construction.
The problem of the constitutional development of the Republic of Kazakhstan is multidimensional. One of the significant such aspects is the historical and legal one, the study of which allows not only to characterize the stages of constitutional development, but also to identify the features and signs of the development of Kazakh statehood itself, the features of the formation of the system of organs state power, constitutional and legal institutions, government structure and administrative-territorial division.
The formation and development of the presidential form of government in the Republic of Kazakhstan has been carried out over the past decades. In fact, there was a process of transition from the Soviet Republic, which was based on the idea of the absolute power of the Soviets, combining the functions of the executive and legislative powers, to a presidential republic, and since 2007, a presidential-parliamentary republic, which involves following the principle of separation of powers, established in Kazakhstan legal social state.
The beginning of the first stage in the formation of the modern Kazakh state and the development of the form of government in it was the adoption on October 25, 1990 of the Declaration of State Sovereignty of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic. The Declaration endowed the state power of the Kazakh CCP with supremacy, independence, completeness within the Republic, as well as in external relations determined by the Union Treaty.
The Declaration established the use of the principle of separation of state power into legislative, executive and judicial. Legislative power was exercised by the Supreme Council of the Kazakh SSR, the highest judicial power belonged to the Supreme Court
Kazakh SSR. The President was declared the head of the Republic and vested with supreme administrative and executive power.
The second stage in the approval of the presidential republic in Kazakhstan is the adoption on April 24, 1990, at the first session of the Supreme Council of the Kazakh CCP of the twelfth convocation of the Law “On the establishment of the post of President of the Kazakh CCP and the introduction of amendments and additions to the Constitution (Basic Law) of the Kazakh SSR.” The law defined the President as the head of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic - an integral part USSR, which predetermined the peculiarities of the constitutional and legal status of the president of the republic. The President was given the right to submit to the Supreme Council of the Kazakh CCP a candidacy for the post of Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Kazakh SSR. At the same time, the President was not recognized as the head of the executive branch. Characteristic feature At this stage, a kind of dualism in the exercise of state power in the republic should be recognized.
The transition to the next (third) stage followed quite quickly, which was due to the general dynamism of the development of the situation both in the Soviet Union as a whole and in Kazakhstan. This transition is associated with the adoption of the Law of the Kazakh CCP of November 20, 1990 “On improving the structure of state power and introducing amendments and additions to the Constitution (Basic Law) of the Kazakh SSR.” The provisions of the Declaration of State Sovereignty of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic were incorporated into the text of the Constitution of the Kazakh CCP on November 20, 1990 through the Law “On improving the structure of state power and administration in the Kazakh CCP and introducing amendments and additions to the Constitution in the Constitution (Basic Law) of the Kazakh SSR” . According to the changes, the President of the Kazakh CCP became the head of the highest executive and administrative power, and the post of
Vice-President of the Kazakh SSR, the Council of Ministers was transformed into the Cabinet of Ministers, the positions of Prime Minister, ministers, and chairmen of state committees were created. The Vice-President of the Kazakh CCP was elected by the Supreme Council on the proposal of the President of the Republic.
And yet, many researchers consider this period as the stage of the existence of a parliamentary republic in Kazakhstan. This conclusion is based on the recognition of the fact that, despite the existence of the institution of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, it was the Supreme Council, from a formal legal point of view, that had the authority to resolve the main issues of internal and foreign policy and monitored the activities executive bodies state power. In any case, the obvious fact is that the first president of the Republic of Kazakhstan was elected under the conditions of a parliamentary republic, which predetermined the list of his powers and the relationship with other institutions of state power.
Finally, on December 16, 1991, the Constitutional Law “On State Independence of the Republic of Kazakhstan” was adopted and came into force on the same day. In Art. 1 Kazakhstan has been declared an independent, democratic and legal state. Its territory is declared integral, indivisible and inviolable.
According to Chapter 2 of the law, citizens of the republic of all nationalities, united by a common historical destiny with the Kazakh nation, together with it constitute the single people of Kazakhstan - the only bearer of sovereignty and source of state power. For all Kazakhs who were forced to leave the territory of the republic and live in other states, the law recognized the right to have the citizenship of Kazakhstan, along with the citizenship of other states, if this does not contradict the laws of the states of which they are citizens.
Chapter 3 determined the structure of government and management bodies. According to the law, state power is exercised based on the principle of its division into legislative, executive and judicial. The President was declared the head of the Republic of Kazakhstan and its executive power.
Chapter 4 defined the economic foundations of the state. The law stated that Kazakhstan has an independent economic system and is based on diversity and equality of all forms of ownership. The earth and its subsoil, water, airspace, vegetation and fauna, other natural resources were declared the exclusive property of the state.
The Constitutional Law of December 16, 1991 “On State Independence of the Republic of Kazakhstan” became a logical continuation of the provisions enshrined in the declaration “On the State Sovereignty of the Kazakh SSR” dated December 25, 1990, which, as G.S. rightly noted. Sapargaliev, December 10, 1991, from the moment of publication of the above-mentioned law on renaming, it should be called: “On state independence of the Republic of Kazakhstan” 1.
On December 1, 1991, nationwide direct elections of the President took place in accordance with the Law of the Kazakh CCP “On Elections”
President of the Kazakh SSR" dated October 16, 1991. N.A. Nazarbayev became the head of state, for whom 98.78 percent of the 8,788,726 voters who took part in the voting voted. The first elections of the head of state were of great political and legal significance. By unanimously voting for N.A. Nazarbayev, the Kazakh people expressed their trust in him, strengthened his status both within the state and on the world stage, and in his person the people began to truly see the “guide of the nation.” The elections of the first President made a huge contribution to the establishment of presidential power in the republic. Academician S.Z.’s attitude to this event. Zimanov put it this way: “Presidential power, introduced in Kazakhstan since April 1990, having become a noticeable phenomenon, played a positive role. President N.A. Nazarbayev is recognized as one of the leaders of perestroika. However, his power is limited in its socio-legal basis, since he was elected by the Supreme Council, and not by the people, and these are unequal things. This limitation began to show itself more and more in the context of the collapse of the economy, rampant anarchy and crime. The personal authority of the President, which he truly deserved, turned out to be insufficient. Today, more than ever, it is necessary that the people trust their leader, heed his calls, and be ready to follow him. The key to such trust is
On December 10, 1991, the President signed the Law adopted by the Parliament on renaming the Kazakh CCP to the Republic of Kazakhstan. On December 12, 1991, the Head of State issued a Decree on the rehabilitation of citizens held accountable for participation in the events of December 17-18, 1986.
The Constitutional Law of December 16, 1991 “On State Independence of the Republic of Kazakhstan” reaffirmed the status of the President as head of state and head of executive power and reflected the principle of separation of powers into legislative, executive and judicial.
As Kazakh political scientist Zh. Kh. Dzhunusova notes: “A year and a half of N. Nazarbayev’s tenure as President, elected by Parliament (April 1990 - December 1991), passed under the sign of the affirmation of the sovereignty of the republic.” Let us add on our own that, along with the strengthening of national sovereignty, the constitutional and legal design of the new national statehood was no less important for constitutional reforms at that time.
Adopted on January 13, 1992, the Law “On introducing amendments and additions to the Law of the Kazakh CCP “On the Cabinet of Ministers” for the transition period 2 gave the President the right to withdraw from the jurisdiction of the Cabinet of Ministers certain areas of public administration and transfer them to specially created state and other bodies, within the framework of the provided The President has the competence, as the head of the executive branch, to delegate to the government the implementation of certain powers.
Law of January 13, 1992 “On Amendments and Additions to the Law of the Kazakh CCP “On Local Self-Government and
local Councils of People's Deputies of the Kazakh SSR" the post of head of the local administration was introduced, accountable to the President and controlled by the relevant Councils of People's Deputies, that is, it was regulated vertical system executive power.
The Presidential Decree of February 7, 1992 “On improving the organization and activities of government bodies of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the conditions of economic reform” established unified system executive and administrative bodies, delineated the powers, responsibilities and functions of bodies and officials.
This stage lasted until the adoption of the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan on January 28, 1993 (the fourth stage), which is assessed as a period of strengthening the system of executive power as a power directly headed by the President of the country. At this time, the Council of Ministers was replaced by the Cabinet of Ministers, and a single apparatus was formed, combining the apparatus of the President and the apparatus of the Cabinet of Ministers.
In the final provision of the Declaration on State Sovereignty of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, it was specifically noted that the provisions of the Declaration are intended to serve as the basis for the development of a new text of the Constitution of the Kazakh SSR.
Thus, speaking about the formation of presidential power in the Republic of Kazakhstan, we can say the following. At its very beginning, presidential power functioned in a system approaching a parliamentary form of government: the Supreme Council elected the president and controlled the government, which was accountable to it. In November 1990, the entire scope of executive powers was transferred to the president. An attempt was made to form a unified executive power headed by the President; a merger of the Presidential Administration and the Cabinet of Ministers took place.
The political system of this period was based on classic model presidential republic. In general, during the period of formation of presidential power, it became and strengthened as the most important political institution, ensuring the independence and independence of the Republic. But along with these innovations, many remnants of the past remained in the state, and not the last place in this list was occupied by the outdated legal framework and legislation of the republic. Having created a new state, new institutions of power, it was necessary to bring them into a logically completed form. All these circumstances led to the adoption by the Supreme Council almost unanimously (309 out of 312 votes) on January 28, 1993 of the first Constitution of independent Kazakhstan. The first Constitution of sovereign Kazakhstan has become a reality, and it should become an attribute of its independence and sovereignty and form the basis of its political life. So, the adoption of the 1993 Constitution marked the beginning of the second period of the formation of the presidency in Kazakhstan.
The Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan of 1993 enshrined the principle of separation of powers, and introduced the direct election by citizens of the republic of both the parliament - the Supreme Council and the head of state - the President (Article 112 of the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan of 1993). It was the direct and immediate election by the people of the above two bodies of state power that predetermined the fact that the President and the Supreme Council were given the exclusive right to speak on behalf of the entire people of Kazakhstan. However, the constitutionally enshrined model has encountered a number of essential difficulties when implemented in state legal practice. The first of the problems was the political crisis at the level of local councils, whose powers were terminated early before adoption.
This stage can be characterized as the period of existence in Kazakhstan of a mixed semi-presidential republican form of government. The transition from the parliamentary republic of the previous stage was marked by a gradual reduction in the powers of parliamentary bodies. However, in essence, the form of government that existed at that time can hardly be called parliamentary; rather, it would be more accurate to characterize it as a quasi-parliamentary republic.
The historical role of the first Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan consisted, in our opinion, primarily in the fact that it proclaimed the national character of statehood. In this regard, the preamble of the Constitution stated: “We, the people of Kazakhstan, being an integral part of the world community, based on the inviolability of Kazakh statehood...”. And in the section devoted to the foundations of the constitutional system, it was said: “The Republic of Kazakhstan as a form of statehood of the self-determined Kazakh nation provides equal rights to all its citizens” \\
Now the above provisions of the Constitution seem to us self-evident. However, at that time they caused rejection by some part of the population. For example, the Coordination Center of the interethnic movement “Unity” opposed the formula of national statehood, which believed that it contradicts the principles of civil society and the rule of law. At the same time, representatives of the said center for some reason did not take into account the fact that all the union and most autonomous republics of the former CCP Union were forms of national statehood, for example, Russia, Ukraine, Latvia, etc. They remained so in
present time. During their creation, the national characteristic was decisive and main. Nobody questioned this.
It should also be especially said about the qualitatively new status of the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan of 1993. It was separated from the mass of other laws and was given the highest legal force. It was stated that laws and other acts that contradict the provisions of the Constitution have no legal force. The norms of the Constitution began to have direct action. Let us recall that, according to the previously existing Constitution, many laws and even by-laws were superior in power to the republican Constitution. It occupied a middle position between, on the one hand, the Constitution of the USSR, laws and even by-laws of the CCP Union and, on the other hand, republican laws.
The first Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan retained and developed the key provisions of the normative legal acts discussed above, but also had some features that were a reflection of real trends political development Kazakhstan.
Paragraph 6 of the fundamentals of the constitutional system of the 1993 Constitution states that “state power in the Republic of Kazakhstan is based on the principle of its division into legislative, executive and judicial. In accordance with it, state bodies, within the framework of their powers, are independent and interact with each other using a system of checks and balances.” Article 75 of the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan declared the President to be the head of state, heading the unified system of executive power of the state. In accordance with it, the President acted as a guarantor of respect for the rights and freedoms of citizens, the Constitution and laws of the Republic, took the necessary measures to protect state sovereignty, the constitutional system, and ensure the security of the territorial integrity of the republic. The President, with the consent of the Supreme Council, appointed the Prime Minister, his deputies, the ministers of foreign affairs, finance, internal affairs, the Chairman of the National Security Committee, and the heads of diplomatic missions of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The President exercised general management of the activities of the Cabinet of Ministers, determined the composition of the Cabinet of Ministers on the proposal of the Prime Minister, formed and abolished ministries, state committees and departments; canceled or suspended, in whole or in part, the effect of acts of the Cabinet of Ministers, ministries, state committees and departments - regardless of their compliance or non-compliance with the Constitution (clause 3 of Article 75 of the Constitution). The President also represented the Republic of Kazakhstan in international relations, negotiated and signed treaties of the republic, ensured compliance with the treaties concluded by Kazakhstan and the obligations assumed by it; addressed messages to the people of Kazakhstan and its Supreme Council.
Thus, according to the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan of 1993, the government was politically and organizationally embedded in the system of executive power controlled by the president, headed and formed by the president with the participation of the Supreme Council and did not represent an independent collegial body with its own competence and collegial political responsibility. Formally, the status of the government was returned to the Cabinet of Ministers, which was almost entirely within the political-legal orbit of the President.
As for law-making powers, according to Art. 71 of the Constitution, the president for the first time received the right of legislative initiative. He also had at his disposal the right of a suspensive veto (Article 78, paragraph 2), which could be overridden by a decision of a parliamentary majority of two-thirds of the votes from total number deputies. In pursuance of the Constitution and laws of the Republic of Kazakhstan, he had the right to issue decrees, resolutions and orders (Article 79), which were binding throughout the territory of the republic. Finally, the 1993 Constitution had one important feature: it did not provide for a procedure for removing the president from office.
In addition, the President had the right to declare a state of emergency and was the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Republic.
According to the Constitution, the government, represented by the Cabinet of Ministers, bore collective responsibility to the President, and personal responsibility to the Supreme Council, that is, each member of the Cabinet of Ministers was responsible for the execution of laws and the implementation of their provisions. The Supreme Council had the right to raise a question with the President about the early dismissal of government members in case of violations and improper performance of their duties.
According to Art. 3 of the Constitution, the head of state had the right, in accordance with the procedure established by law, to appoint and dismiss from office also the heads of local executive bodies who act as direct representatives of the president in the relevant administrative-territorial units. As a result, the entire executive vertical came under the complete control of the president.
Thus, the president stood at the head of the executive branch and bore full responsibility for its activities, while at the same time the Supreme Council retained the right last word in solving many state issues and had very significant prerogatives.
The judiciary at this stage was under the control of both the president and the Supreme Council. The President presented to the Supreme Council of the Republic candidates for the chairman and judges of the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court, the Supreme Arbitration Court, and the Prosecutor General; entered the Supreme Council with a proposal to relieve them of their duties. The immunity provision for judges in the 1993 Constitution was set out in the following form: a judge could not be arrested, subjected to arrest, administrative penalties imposed by a court, or brought to criminal liability without the consent of the body that elected him (Article 78, paragraph 11).
The development and adoption of the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan of 1993 was carried out in the context of growing contradictions between various government bodies and the emergence of a new model of their interaction. This process took place in difficult economic conditions and was accompanied by contradictions and conflicts, which were both objective and often subjective in nature.
In the difficult conditions of the collapse of the CCP Union and the birth of independent statehood in Kazakhstan, the absence of not only local, but also the supreme body of representative (legislative) power could lead to unpredictable consequences.
In connection with the self-dissolution of the Supreme Council of the Kazakh CCP of the XII convocation (elected in 1990, whose powers expired in 1995), from December 10, 1993 to April 19, 1994, the President exercised his constitutional powers, along with some parliamentary ones, in accordance with the Law of December 10, 1993 of the year “On the temporary delegation of additional powers to the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan and heads of local administrations” 1. The President of Kazakhstan at this time performed his functions in the absence of parliament as a legislative and representative body.
He was given the right, for the period before the start of the first session of the newly elected Supreme Council, to issue acts having the force of law on the basis and in pursuance of the Constitution. Moreover, these acts had their legal force before the adoption of the relevant laws of the republic, that is, laws adopted by the Supreme Council.
In accordance with the law mentioned above, the Head of State acquired the right, until the start of the first session of the newly elected Supreme Council, to appoint and dismiss from their duties the chairman and judges of the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court, the Supreme Arbitration Court, the Prosecutor General,
The Chairman of the National Bank, independently appoint the Prime Minister, his deputies, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Defense, Finance, Internal Affairs, the Chairman of the National Security Committee and the heads of diplomatic missions, make decisions on holding a referendum, and introduce a state of emergency. He also had the right, during the specified period of time, to determine the procedure for the formation of lower courts, to ratify and denounce international treaties, and to resolve issues of war and peace.
On March 7, 1994, elections to the Supreme Council of the XIII convocation and local representative bodies took place. The President, according to the election code in the Republic of Kazakhstan, had the right to nominate candidates for deputies of the Supreme Council on the state list.
Due to the negative assessment of the activities of the Government by the deputies of the Supreme Council and the President, on October 11, 1994, the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan signed the Decree “On the resignation of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Kazakhstan” 1. The crisis gripped the entire Republic, and we can safely say that first of all it was a crisis
authorities. Evidence of this is the events that happened next.
On October 12, 1994, the President, by decree, appointed A.M. to the position of Prime Minister. Kazhegeldin, who headed the newly formed Cabinet of Ministers. A certain dynamism has appeared in the implementation of economic policy. This gave grounds for the executive branch to intensify its actions in the political sphere. On December 15, N. Nazarbayev made a keynote speech in the Supreme Council, proposing that parliamentarians immediately adopt laws on bankruptcy, collateral, and foreign investment, new tax code. At the same time, at the insistence of the president, it was
a rating vote was held regarding changes to the Constitution that were actively discussed in society - on the introduction of private ownership of land, on state bilingualism, judicial and legal reform and the nature of statehood (recall that the 1993 Constitution stated that Kazakhstan is the state of a self-determined nation). Deputies supported only the need for judicial and legal reform; other issues did not even receive half the votes.
On March 1, 1995, by Decree of the President, the Assembly of the Peoples of Kazakhstan was established as a consultative and advisory body under the head of state. Her main goal should have been the development of recommendations for improving national policy, the introduction of specific, practical proposals to the President in the field of interethnic relations, assistance cultural development peoples inhabiting the Republic.
The new parliament lasted less than a year. In March 1995, a political crisis broke out in the political life of Kazakhstan.
Parliamentary candidate T. G. Kvyatkovskaya, who did not pass the stage of registration to participate in the parliamentary elections on March 7, filed a lawsuit against the Central election commission to the Constitutional Court of Kazakhstan about violation of the Election Code in Abylaikhanovsky constituency. After a lengthy trial, on March 6, 1995, the Constitutional Court adopted a decision. It noted that “the methodology for counting votes introduced by the Central Election Commission... essentially changed the electoral system established by the Election Code. Thus, the Central Election Commission violated Article 60 of the Constitution, exceeding its competence.” That is, the resolution recognized the illegitimacy of the results of the parliamentary elections on March 7 and, consequently, the legitimacy of the parliament itself. Thus, such a court decision, if recognized as final,
It had the character of a constitutional precedent and the legal form of the subsequent constitutional reforms.
On March 8, the President, using the right given to him by the Constitution, raised objections to the decision of the Constitutional Court. On March 9, the same objection was made by the Chairman of the Supreme Council A. Kekilbayev. On March 10, 1995, the Constitutional Court overcame the objections raised and, by two-thirds of the vote, adopted a ruling: “... to reject the objections of the President and Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan and confirm the decision of the Constitutional Court of March 6, 1995. The determination is not subject to appeal.” On March 11, the Supreme Council, trying to defend its legitimacy, adopted at its extraordinary meeting the Constitutional Law “On Amendments and Additions to the Constitution” and the resolution “On the suspension of activities
Constitutional Court", however these documents could not have legal force.
On the same day, N. Nazarbayev addressed the Constitutional Court with a request about the legal consequences of the resolution of March 6, 1995. In the request, the President asked for clarification on the following issues:
Does this ruling of the Constitutional Court mean the unconstitutionality of the elections to the Supreme Council held on March 7, 1994, as well as the unconstitutionality of the powers of the elected deputies of the Supreme Council;
If the powers of members of parliament are unconstitutional, who has the right to make legislative decisions;
Does the decision of the Constitutional Court mean that the Law “On the temporary delegation of additional powers to the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan and heads of local administrations” dated December 10, 1993 continues to be in force?
In these conditions, the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Kazakhstan played a significant positive role, which on March 6, 1995 adopted a Resolution, according to which the following were recognized: a)
unconstitutionality of the powers of the Supreme Council formed on March 7, 1994, as well as the deputies elected to the Supreme Council during by-elections January 22, 1995; b) the need to hold early parliamentary elections in the country; c) entry into force of the Law of December 10, 1993 “On the temporary delegation of additional powers to the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan and heads of local administrations” for the period until the formation of a new composition of the country’s highest representative (legislative) body.
But a full-scale regulatory overcoming of the crisis can be considered the adoption of the Law “On early termination of powers of local councils of people’s deputies of the Republic of Kazakhstan” and the Law “On elections of deputies of the Supreme Council and local representative
bodies of the Republic of Kazakhstan." On March 11, 1995, the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan dissolved the Supreme Council and also dismissed the Cabinet of Ministers. The peculiarity of the situation that arose after such a decision of the Constitutional Court was that in the list of government bodies vested with the authority to adopt normative legal acts top level, only the President of the country remained. The President, with his powers in the sphere of executive power and the right to legislate, with the exception of the judiciary, for some time became the only acting supreme body of state power.
Thus, hopes that with the election of a new composition of the Supreme Council and local representative bodies of government on March 7, 1994, the normal functioning of the system of government bodies would be restored, did not materialize. The illegitimacy of the Supreme Council received final legal confirmation, as a result of which, on March 6, 1995, the Supreme Council of the XIII convocation ceased its activities. The illegitimacy of parliament also meant the illegitimacy of a government formed with the participation of an illegitimate parliament. Therefore, on the same day, March 11, 1995, the entire government resigned, which was accepted by the President. In accordance with the law on the temporary delegation of additional powers to the President, he appointed A. Kazhegeldin as Prime Minister and instructed him to form the composition of the Cabinet of Ministers 1 . On the same day, the President accepted the resignation of the Central Election Commission.
In a situation of political and economic crisis, the country was left without a parliament. The President had to share not an easy task govern the state in these conditions. The Law of December 10, 1993 “On the temporary delegation to the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan and heads of local administrations of additional
powers", which gave the President the right to exercise certain parliamentary powers. The head of state begins to actively work in the field of legislation. During the absence of a supreme legislative body in the country, it issues a whole complex of fundamental decrees that have the force of law, regulating all important sectors of the economic, political and social life states But the current and main issue was the question of revising the Constitution.
Regarding what role should be assigned to Parliament in it, ex-Prime Minister A. Kazhegeldin shares the following thoughts: “I would really like the future parliament to be truly a parliament. And nothing more. People are tired of living in a state where there is a collective prosecutor, a collective policeman, a collective politician, a collective economist - whatever you want. As soon as you start to figure out who exactly it is, you won’t understand anything.”
It became obvious that the norms of the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan of 1993 no longer worked in the real conditions of that time. The increasing role of the President as the head of state and head of the executive branch, and at the same time the presence in the state of a strong parliament - the Supreme Council - was the main problem, namely the problem of power.
The compromise that was made between them could not last long. Meanwhile, the current Constitution did not provide for the implementation of a system of “checks and balances.” It did not reflect such an important institution as impeachment. It also did not provide for the dissolution of parliament by the head of state. The Supreme Council retained the exclusive right to elect and
the appointment of senior officials who were primarily responsible to him, which significantly limited the power of the President as the head of the executive branch.
In addition, the position of the President, as the head of state and head of executive and administrative power in one person, did not give him the opportunity to deal exclusively with the management of the state. “The institution of the presidency was legislatively formalized in the 1993 Constitution. However, the provisions of the Basic Law limited the rights and functions of the head of the executive branch to such an extent that this did not allow us to talk about the creation of a classical presidential form of government in our country,” writes Zh. Kh. Dzhunusova.
History and real life Many states truly indicate that the confrontation between various branches of government, as well as the struggle between them to strengthen their positions and expand their powers, led to serious conflicts and upheavals. And in many cases, such undesirable consequences arise due to the inconsistency of the constitutional status and the real balance of political forces in the country.
Based on the theory of constitutionalism, the need to adopt a new (in form or essence) constitution arises precisely when socio-economic and (or) political relations in a given society change significantly, since in general the essence and main function of a constitution is recording (formulation) the relationship of political forces existing at the time of its adoption.
The approaching presidential elections, originally scheduled for the end of 1996, despite the obvious victory of the current head of state, began to seriously influence political and economic processes. On this occasion, K.Sh Suleimenov said: “out of the three years that the president spent in office, two, we can safely say, were lost. And they were lost thanks to artificial battles that were constantly imposed on him by the Supreme Council, imaginary parties that do not enjoy the support of the majority of the population... The President is accused of winning the December 1991 elections without an alternative. But why would he create an artificial alternative for himself? It would be absurd and simply immoral."
On March 24, 1995, the first session of the Assembly of Peoples of Kazakhstan was held, during which a resolution was adopted to hold a republican referendum on extending the powers of the President of the Republic until December 1, 2000.
But if you look deeper into this problem, you can clearly understand that behind it were questions such as: can the current President and the course of his policies and reforms be trusted?
On March 25, the Presidential Decree “On holding a republican referendum on April 29, 1995” was signed, the main and only question of which was the question: “Do you agree to extend until December 1, 2000 the term of office of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan N.A. Nazarbayev, popularly elected on December 1 1991?
On April 29, 1995, a referendum was held, in which out of 9,110,156 citizens of the country included in the lists to participate in the referendum, 8,309,637 people, or 91.21 percent, took part in the voting, of which 7,932,834 were in favor of extending the powers of President N.A. Nazarbayev, which amounted to 95.46 percent.
Once again, having secured the support and trust of the Kazakh people, the President of the country immediately began to address the issue of the fate of the Constitution. On May 22, an expert advisory council under the president was formed to prepare a draft of the new Constitution. The council included the most prominent legal scholars of the republic (G. Sapargaliev, M. Suleimenov, Yu. Basin, V. Kim, E. Nurpeisov, A. Kotov), representatives of the legal services of the state apparatus (K. Kolpakov, B. Mukhamedzhanov, N .Shaikenov), as well as international experts (S. Alekseev, J. Attali, R. Dumas).
The difficulties in establishing a system of interaction between different branches of government are quite explainable by the lack of practice in implementing the model of separation of powers, and the inertia of political thinking based on the idea of the absolute power of the Soviets. It should be recognized that at this stage of the formation of the form of government in Kazakhstan it was not possible to develop a model of effective coexistence and interaction of the legislative (representative), executive and judicial authorities. There was another political crisis. The current situation is characterized by researchers as a parliamentary crisis.
Complex political and economic conditions had an impact on the text of the Constitution, which undoubtedly played a significant role in the development of the system of state power and administration, but was characterized by excessive vagueness of wording and a significant level of declarativeness of many provisions. The Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan of 1993 is a striking example of the fundamental law as a legal consolidation of the balance of forces at a specific stage of the historical development of the Kazakh state and society. It was a document that contained a compromise between those forces in Kazakhstani society that understood the inevitability of radical changes not only in the economy, but also in the political and state regime, and the forces that sought to preserve the governance models that had already developed during that period. The Constitution of Kazakhstan of 1993 did not overcome this contradiction, which led to a gradual increase in the fictitiousness of many of its provisions. These processes were so rapid that after two years the preparation of a new text of the Constitution became inevitable.
But the main drawback of the 1993 Constitution of Kazakhstan was the lack of establishing clear legal procedures for overcoming contradictions between various government bodies. There is nothing unusual in the conflicts between authorities, both vertically and horizontally. On the contrary, conflicts and contradictions contribute to improving the quality of governance, but only if there are mechanisms for their resolution that help maintain the stability of state legal institutions and processes. The need to consolidate new support mechanisms state development and determined the need for the development and adoption of a new text of the constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Fifth stage. On August 30, 1995, the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan was adopted at a national referendum. 90.51% of voters took part in the referendum, 89.14% of those who took part in the referendum spoke in support. Paragraph 1 of Article 1 of the Constitution proclaims that the Republic of Kazakhstan establishes itself as a democratic, secular, legal and social state, the highest values of which are the person, his life, rights and freedoms.
Most Kazakh scientists consider this stage as the period of establishment and formation of the presidential republic in Kazakhstan. So, according to M.S. Ashimbaeva, the 1995 Constitution “finally established a presidential republic in Kazakhstan with all the ensuing political consequences. What is important here is that, according to the new Constitution, the President, while not being the head of the executive branch, retained a leading role in relation to it. Moreover, the President received constitutional powers to coordinate the actions of all three branches of government in the country” 1 .
At this stage of development of the form of government of Kazakhstan, significant adjustments were made to it. The 1995 Constitution of Kazakhstan contributed to the concentration of power in the system of executive bodies and significant centralization of government regulators. Similar solutions were completely justified and led to the stabilization of state-power relations. Upon achieving this stability, conditions were created for expanding the system of influence of legislative (representative) bodies on the processes of direct management.
In June 1995, N. Nazarbayev presented his draft of the new “Constitution of the Kazakh Republic” to the public. The draft had a fundamentally different structure compared to the current Constitution and consisted of 8 sections and 95 articles.
The first section is “ General provisions» stated that Kazakhstan asserts itself as a secular, legal, social and unitary state with a presidential form of government. It was proclaimed that the only source of power was the people; equality of state and private property is recognized. The official language was declared Kazakh language. In government bodies, Russian is officially used along with Kazakh.
The second section was called “Man and Citizen.” It listed the rights and freedoms that a citizen has
Quote on Reforming the public administration system: foreign experience and Kazakhstan. - Almaty: Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Studies under the President PK 5 2005. P. 22-23.
Kazakhstan. Unlike the current Constitution, the draft did not have a classification of types of rights into political, economic, etc., the right to work was replaced by the right to freedom of labor; human rights that do not depend on the economic development of society are highlighted separately - the right to life, the right to freedom, etc.
The third section is “President”. The President was declared the head of state and its highest official. The powers of the president in the draft were significantly increased in comparison with the current Constitution. The President was given the right to dissolve parliament.
The fourth section is “Parliament”. The project provided for a new name for the Supreme Council - Parliament. The parliament itself was intended to be bicameral: the upper house - the Senate and the lower house - the Mazhilis. The rights of parliament, in comparison with the current Constitution, were significantly curtailed. He was given the right to impeach the president only in one case - he committed high treason.
The sixth section is “Justice”. The courts of the republic were proclaimed the Constitutional Court, Supreme Court and local courts. The position of judge became appointed.
The seventh section is “Local public administration and self-government.” Maslikhats elected for 4 years were declared local representative bodies; executive bodies were headed by appointed akims.
On June 30, the draft of the new Constitution was submitted for public discussion, its term was set until July 30, 1995. About 33 thousand collective discussions took place in the republic, in which more than three million citizens took part, making almost 30 thousand proposals and comments. The foundations of the constitutional structure of many democratic countries of the world were studied, and the world experience of relationships and the balance of branches of power was studied. During the discussion, most of the criticism concerned the reflection of issues of power and human rights in the draft. Alternative drafts of the Constitution were also proposed. Thus, N. Masanov, E. Zhovtis and V. Sevryukova, together with foreign experts, presented an alternative project in July 1995. However, he received no support.
During the national discussion of the draft Constitution, 55 articles out of 99 were changed, and a new section appeared - “Constitutional Council”, according to which the existence of a Constitutional Court in the judicial system of Kazakhstan was not provided for.
On August 30, 1995, 90.51 percent of citizens participated in the referendum on the adoption of the new Constitution, of which 89.1 percent answered “yes”. 7.212 million voters voted for the Constitution. On September 6, 1995, a solemn ceremony of the official presentation of the new Constitution took place at the Presidential residence. August 30 was declared a public holiday - Constitution Day.
The adoption of the 1995 Constitution marked a new stage in the development of the constitutional foundations of Kazakhstan, and, therefore, was the beginning of the third period in the formation of presidential power in the Republic. As Russian researcher N.A. Sakharov writes: “The post of president is fundamental, but only one of constituent elements Institute of the Presidency. In order for this institution to take its rightful place in the political system, it is necessary, first of all, to have a strong constitutional basis for the presidency and broad socio-political support for presidential power. The Basic Law and other legal norms must define as clearly and completely as possible the status of the head of state, his powers and the limits of these powers. Giving presidential power an institutional character is impossible without careful legal regulation of the relationship between the president and the government, parliament, and local authorities. The institution of the presidency also presupposes the presence of a well-functioning organizational and management structure of the presidential apparatus, an effective decision-making procedure, and stable moral and ethnic norms for those who occupy the highest official position in the state.”
It was to achieve these goals that the 1995 Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan was adopted, which contains more detailed regulations defining the status of the President of the Republic than the 1993 Constitution. First of all, it was changed legal status and also in the system of state bodies of the head of state. The relationship between the legislative and executive branches of government has changed. The unicameral Supreme Council was transformed into a bicameral Parliament, the Cabinet of Ministers into the Government, which was no longer headed by the President, but by the Prime Minister.
According to the 1995 Constitution in Kazakhstan, the executive branch of government was headed by the government headed by the Prime Minister.
Comparing the status of the President, enshrined in the first Constitution, with the amendments made to it by the 1995 Constitution, his powers in relation to the Government, E. Abenov writes: “For example, if, according to the 1993 Constitution, the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan was endowed with the right to form and abolish ministries and state committees and departments, the corresponding wording of the 1995 Constitution was set out in a different wording, where the competence of the President included the formation, abolition and reorganization of only those central government bodies that are not part of the Government. This indicates that the Government, according to the 1995 Constitution, has relative autonomy in matters within its jurisdiction.” He further develops his thought: “An important detail should be noted. If, according to the first Constitution, the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan exercised general management of the activities of the Cabinet of Ministers, then in the second Constitution a rule was established in accordance with which the Head of State presides over meetings of the Government only on particularly important issues. That is, there is a significant distance between the President and the Government.”
However, in our opinion, the totality of the president’s powers regarding the government and the widespread practice of the head of state deciding specific management issues, on the contrary, allow us to speak of the president of the Republic of Kazakhstan as the de facto head of the executive branch.
The President legally appoints the Prime Minister with the consent of Parliament. But this condition, based on the experience of past years, is rather of a formal nature and does not fundamentally affect the personnel line regarding the Government, implemented by the head of state. For example, in 1994, the president proposed appointing prime minister A.M. Kazhegeldin. The head of state received the consent of the deputies to this, despite the fact that the latter is the first deputy prime minister, who was sent by him for “major miscalculations and omissions in his activities” to the resignation of the government, which “was unable to fully concentrate efforts on priority ways of transforming the economy into the market system, failed to cope with modern requirements society." And, besides, despite the fact that “due to the inertia of the highest executive body, the situation of the people is worsening day by day, there are no tangible changes in their socio-economic life.”
The president's powers over other members of the government are extensive. On the proposal of the Prime Minister, he appoints and dismisses its members. Parliament's consent to carry out these personnel changes not required. Let us recall that in 1994, during the formation of the Cabinet of Ministers, headed by A. Kazhegeldin, deputies did not give their consent to the appointment
Deputy Prime Ministers S. Tursunov and A. Sarsenbaev.
It must also be said that on particularly important issues, the president, using the constitutional right to preside over government meetings, can take charge of it himself and give direct orders and instructions to all members of the government.
A very strong position in the powers of the president in relations with the government is his right to decide on the resignation of the government. By law, a vote of no confidence in the government can be passed by parliament, but it is not mandatory for the president. The head of state has the right, on his own initiative, to decide to terminate the powers of the government, dismiss the prime minister and any member of the government from office (clause 7 of article 70 of the Constitution).
Thus, according to the 1995 Constitution, the government changed its status compared to the 1993 Constitution. Formally, political system, created in 1995, began to resemble the model of a semi-presidential republic. The mixed model (semi-presidential republic) is designed to get rid of the shortcomings of the presidential and parliamentary forms of government by combining the most strengths both.
The essence of the semi-presidential republic model thus boils down, first of all, to strong presidential power, exercised in conditions of less separation of branches of power than in a presidential republic. The head of state in a semi-presidential republic is not necessarily the sole bearer of executive power, but often shares these powers with the prime minister, who heads the government. The powers of the head of state and the head of government are sometimes “closely interspersed, and formally the consent of both of them is required to make decisions.”
The scope of the president's powers in a semi-presidential republic largely depends on the balance of power on the domestic political scene, which sometimes determines different interpretations of the constitution - closer to a parliamentary or, conversely, to a presidential republic, which allows its norms to be adapted to different circumstances. In France, if the president and the parliamentary majority belong to the same political party (bloc of parties), the unconditional priority in the sphere of executive power belongs to the president, while the execution of decisions made by the president remains the responsibility of the prime minister and the government. The victory in the parliamentary elections of a party (bloc of parties) opposing the president sharply increases the dualism within the executive branch and leads to a limitation of the actual competence of the president and a narrowing of his freedom of political maneuver.
According to the Constitution of 1995 in the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Supreme Judicial Power was called upon to be exercised by the Supreme Court, and the Supreme Arbitration Court was abolished. The Constitutional Council was also created
The Council of the Republic, which was supposed to decide questions about the correctness of holding elections of senior officials, holding a referendum, give an official interpretation of the norms of the Constitution, etc. The status of these bodies was reflected in more detail in the decrees of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, having the force of the Constitutional Law “On the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Status its deputies" dated October 16, 1995, "On the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan" dated December 18, 1995, "On the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan" dated December 26, 1995, "On the Constitutional Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan" dated December 29, 1995.
Such bright, significant legislative and political events This period of formation of presidential power in the Republic of Kazakhstan was marked.
During the process of constitutional reform in the Republic, in May 1998, changes were made to the election decree, according to which candidates who received an administrative penalty for an intentional offense within a year before registration were not allowed to participate in the elections.
In 1998, amendments and additions were made to the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan. These changes led to the development of a multi-party system in the country, greater transparency in the activities of the Parliament of Kazakhstan, and an improvement in the model of interaction between various branches of government, primarily the executive and legislative.
On September 30, 1998, the head of state submitted to Parliament the draft Law “On Amendments and Additions to the Constitution of the Republic
Kazakhstan”, which provided for significant innovations in the system of power relations. Its discussion and acceptance were not easy.
“Articles of constitutions are not commandments,” writes a group of Russian authors, “and for obvious reasons there are no unchangeable constitutions. However general rules here and now could become three very simple and natural principle, which do not seem to cause any fundamental objections from anyone. The first is to change the Basic Law not when there is a political opportunity to change it, but when, given such an opportunity, it is impossible not to change it. The second is that relations in many areas, predominantly or exclusively regulated by the Basic Law, can be adjusted, sometimes significantly, without changing it, through ordinary rule-making and court decisions. Third - if, nevertheless, the Constitution cannot but be changed in some of its individual components, this change, since there is no transition to a fundamentally different constitutional philosophy in society, must in any case. in keeping with the spirit
the current Basic Law".
On October 7, 1998, a joint meeting of the Senate and the Mazhilis of the Parliament of the Republic was held. Changing the Constitution is a serious issue, and this was the reason why deputies, without discussion, by a majority vote (40 out of 42 in the Senate and 59 out of 62 in the Mazhilis) rejected the draft law introduced by the President. The main argument of the deputies was that the Constitution should not change too often, and therefore if they embark on constitutional reform, then it is necessary to change all the articles of the Basic Law that need reform. The deputies also proposed holding early presidential elections, citing the fact that N.A. Nazarbayev, proposing
a broad program of reforms, he must first of all know whether the people support him, and the democratization program must begin with himself, having also experienced the liberalization of the election procedure. A rather tense situation has developed that requires either an immediate compromise solution to this issue or delaying its resolution for an indefinite period of time. As a result, the Parliament issued Resolution No. 99-1 of October 7, 1998 “On the conciliation commission for working with amendments of deputies of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the draft Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan “On Amendments and Additions to the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan”.
The result of the work of the conciliation commission was that almost all the proposals set out in the deputies’ address to the Head of State were taken into account, and the President introduced a number of new amendments.
At the proposal of the President, the norm limiting the age of civil servants was excluded from the Constitution. According to the President, this is not a norm of the Constitution, but of the current legislation. The term of office of the President was changed - it was increased from 5 to 7 years. The age limit for election as Head of State is also changing - the lower limit increases from 35 to 40 years, the upper limit is not regulated at all.
Introduced new edition chapters on the taking of the oath by the President in extraordinary cases - when the powers of the Head of State from the President for one reason or another are transferred to the Chairman of the Senate, the oath must be taken within a month from the date of acceptance of powers.
The procedure for appointing members of the Accounts Committee is changing - now the chairman and two members of the Accounts Committee will be appointed
The President of the Republic, the remaining members of Parliament, and the Government are deprived of the right to appoint candidates to these positions.
The term of office of deputies of the Senate is increased to 6 years, and of the Mazhilis - to 5 years. Accordingly, rotation in the Senate will take place every 3 years. The threshold for party representatives to enter the Mazhilis is also changing - from 10% of the votes to 7%.
The norm according to which deputies of Parliament were not guaranteed to retain their previous work or be provided with equivalent work after the expiration of their parliamentary powers, which was part of clause 3 of Art., is removed from the Constitution of the Republic. 52 of the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Another new amendment - the Constitution states that akims of other territorial units are appointed or elected to office in the manner determined by the Head of State.
Fundamental changes were made to the article of the Constitution regulating the procedure for calling a nationwide referendum. Now, subject to a certain procedure, Parliament can insist on introducing amendments and additions to the Constitution proposed by deputies to a nationwide referendum.
An important change was also made to the current Constitution - with the consent of the President of the Republic, the current term of office of the Head of State can be reduced by a resolution of Parliament adopted at a joint meeting of the Chambers by a majority vote. In this case, the Mazhilis calls elections for the President of the Republic within 1 month. The head of state elected in this case takes the oath within 1 month from the date of publication of the election results and his term of office is 7 years. The norm referred to in paragraph 1 of Art. 94 of the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan, refers to transitional provisions, has a one-time application nature and relates
only to the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, elected before the entry into force of the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan of 1995.
After carefully taking into account all the changes and additions proposed by the deputies and the President, parliamentarians unanimously voted for the adoption of the draft Law in two readings at once. Thus, 19 amendments were made to the current Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
“The conclusion that can be drawn from this hot week,” the President said, speaking after the adoption of the constitutional reform by Parliament, “is the maturity of our political institutions and the demonstration of a civilized parliamentary discussion. Consensus is always preferable to any conflict, and especially in such difficult times.”
year, it is possible to shorten the term of the presidential
year, parliamentarians decided to take advantage of this right and appealed
to the President with a proposal to agree to reduce his term
powers that were established in the republican
answered positively, and Parliament issues resolution No. 103-1 of 8
October 1998 “On reducing the term of office of the President
Republic of Kazakhstan Nazarbayeva N.A.
After the closing of the joint meeting of the Chambers at the plenary meeting of the Mazhilis, the deputies issued Resolution No. 1164 - I of October 8, 1998 “On calling elections for the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan,” which set the date for the upcoming presidential elections
elections - January 10, 1999. Let us remind you that, in accordance with the Constitution, two months are provided for the nomination and registration of candidates and a month for campaigning and holding elections.
The decision to hold early elections put everyone in the same conditions, since President N.A. Nazarbayev had not previously been involved in an election campaign.
As the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan N.A. noted in his statement. Nazarbayev: “As the head of state and guarantor of the Constitution, I consider it my duty to draw the attention of all government bodies, primarily local ones, to the need to strictly follow the spirit and letter of the Law, to exclude any attempts at illegal interference in the electoral process, to create equal conditions for the activities of all candidates and persons representing them." He further said: “We choose not only the President, we choose the future of our country. No one should interfere with the free expression of the will of the Kazakh people. Nothing should stop the people of Kazakhstan from making their choice.”
Regarding the presidential election, Linz, a professor of political science and sociology at Yale University, wrote the following: “... presidential elections allow the people to openly and directly elect the head of the executive branch for a specific term, rather than leaving the decision of this issue to behind-the-scenes politicians. However this positive point will “work” only when the presidential mandate is received with a large majority of votes. If... the difference in votes received between the winner and the second candidate may be so insignificant that it will be difficult to say
about any kind of popular support."
On January 10, 1999, elections of the President of the country took place in the Republic of Kazakhstan. Based on the voting and protocols of regional, Astana and Almaty election commissions on the results of counting votes in the elections of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Central Election Commission reported that out of 8,419,283 voters included in the voting lists, 7,328,970 voters took part in the voting, or 87.05 % of their total number. Invalid ballots were registered - 107,562. The number of ballots in which voters voted against all candidates was 123,703.
The Central Election Commission registered four candidates for the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan. For
In accordance with Articles 12 and 66 of the Decree of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, which has the force of a Constitutional Law, dated September 28, 1995 “On elections in the Republic of Kazakhstan”, the Central Election Commission registered N.A. as the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Nazarbayev.
Citizens of the Republic of Kazakhstan during the election campaign and in the elections of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan were fully provided with equal opportunities to express one or another preference. Having voted for N.A. Nazarbayev, voters expressed their support for his policies aimed at establishing a truly independent, independent state, which should be a full member of the international community.
On January 20, 1999, the inauguration of the newly elected President of the Republic took place in a solemn atmosphere.
The sixth (modern, current) stage of development of the form of government in the Republic of Kazakhstan is counted from 2001. The need for a transition to a qualitatively new stage of development of the form of government in the country is due to the fact that beginning of XXI century, it became obvious that political reform, the level of development of the state legal system, mechanisms of state
management did not fully meet the demands of economic growth. This contradiction was especially clear in the regions of the country. The Law “On Local public administration in the Republic of Kazakhstan."
Essentially, this is the stage of decentralization of implementation management processes, transition to a new quality of interaction between government bodies belonging to its various branches. If the 1990s are characterized as a period of high degree of centralization of power, which made it possible to ensure the stability of the state
construction in the most difficult times, then, starting from 2001, decentralization mechanisms have come to the fore. Decentralization is named as significant line in the Strategic Development Plan of the Republic of Kazakhstan until 2010.
On May 21, 2007, Kazakhstan entered a new stage of its socio-political development. The President of the country signed the law adopted by Parliament on amendments and additions to the Constitution. What is the main result of the constitutional innovations? First of all, the republic has made a tangible step from a presidential to a presidential-parliamentary form of government, which is a logical result of the policy to develop democracy and civil society in Kazakhstan. This is expressed in a number of provisions.
Firstly, the president no longer confronts parliament with the fact of choosing a specific candidate for the post of prime minister, but first consults with factions of political parties represented in
Mazhilis (lower house of parliament) for the subsequent expression by the Mazhilis of consent to the appointment of the head of the executive branch.
This point is very important. The foundation for the real participation of political parties in the activities of the country's highest legislative body, which is typical for all democratic states, is being significantly strengthened. In addition, now both chambers participate in the formation of the Constitutional Council, the Accounts Committee for control over the execution of the republican budget, and the Central Election Commission. At the same time, the election of CEC members provides new opportunities for the participation of political parties in the management of electoral processes. And if we take into account that the elections of parliamentary deputies, according to the amendments, are regulated by constitutional law, then we can talk about the active participation of political parties through the deputy corps in the construction of a new electoral system.
Secondly, from now on it will be political parties that will form the composition of the lower house of parliament through a proportional election system (based on party lists). Increasing the number of Mazhilis deputies by 30 people significantly increases the chances of all political parties to occupy as many seats as possible in the lower house. How the parties themselves will take advantage of this chance is another matter. 9 deputies are elected by the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan, which, given the multi-ethnic nature of Kazakhstan’s society, will make it possible to represent the interests of citizens of different nationalities in the Majilis.
Thirdly, the state is no longer prohibited from financing public associations. What does this give? The emergence of a new powerful source funding from the state will lead to an increase in the number of non-governmental organizations, strengthening connections between government agencies and society, and increasing civic activity
population.
Special mention should be made of state financing of political parties, in particular those working in parliament. State funding of just such political parties, it seems, is preferable, since, on the one hand, there will be no basis for accusations of direct state support for individual parties during the pre-election period, and on the other hand, the state will assist in promoting software settings parties that have received recognition from the electorate.
Fourthly, the government is forced to take its current and strategic work to a qualitatively new level, since the Majilis will no longer need to collect 2/3 of the votes to express a vote of no confidence in the government or an individual member of the government, but only a simple majority, which significantly increases the degree of responsibility of the executive branch. A new norm also appears, providing for the right of parliament to judge the work of the cabinet based on the results of approval of the report on the execution of the republican budget. Failure to approve the report now means a vote of no confidence in the government. In addition, the government must henceforth raise the issue of trust with the Majilis.
Along with the expansion of powers, the responsibility of parliament members is also increasing. The norm on the absence of an imperative mandate for deputies is excluded from the Constitution, and it is also determined that if, for example, a Mazhilis deputy leaves the party on whose lists he was elected, or it ceases to exist, then the deputy loses his mandate. Thus, it is laid new system the relationship of deputies with their voters through the party system, when a party member who has become a deputy cannot leave the will of the party and, accordingly, the will of the voters in parliament, without losing his deputy
Other equally important political changes include the reduction after 2012 of the presidential term from 7 to 5 years, as well as the elimination of the ban on being elected more than two times in a row in relation to the country’s first president N.A. Nazarbayev. The initiators of the latest change were members of parliament. By and large, limiting the possibility of electing a president more than twice infringes on the right of the people to elect whoever and how many times they would like to see as head of state. As you know, not all countries have such restrictions. For example, in France they are not. In addition, the president is now given the right of legislative initiative, when he independently sends bills to parliament for consideration and further adoption. Previously, only members of parliament and the government had the right to legislative initiative.
The number of deputies of the Senate (upper house of parliament) increases by 8 people, who are appointed by the president “taking into account the need to represent national, cultural and other significant interests of society in the Senate.” In addition to the above powers, the Senate now agrees to the appointment of not only the Prosecutor General and the Chairman of the National Security Committee, but also the Chairman of the National Bank, and performs the functions of parliament when passing laws in the absence of the Majilis caused by its dissolution.
Fundamentally new and, one might say, breakthrough is the decision of the head of state to henceforth coordinate the appointment of akims (governors) of regions, the capital and cities of republican significance with the corresponding maslikhats (local representative bodies), which significantly increases their status. Moreover, the maelikhat will have greater influence on the akims, since now they can express distrust in them not by 2/3, but by a simple majority of their members. Along with this, maslikhats will be able to take part in the implementation of local self-government. Thus, a new center of political power has emerged locally in the form of maslikhats, which, in turn, along with akims, are responsible for the fate of the regions to their voters and the president of the country.
Form of government- this is an organization of state power, characterized by a system of formation and relationships between the highest bodies of state power, characterizes power relations horizontally. The Republic of Kazakhstan has a presidential form of government. However, this does not mean that a classic presidential republic has developed in Kazakhstan, as in the United States. Rather, we are talking about a mixed (semi-presidential) republic, combining elements of both a presidential and parliamentary republic. The French model is taken as a basis.
The formation of this form of government in Kazakhstan has 6 stages:
1. On April 24, 1990, the post of President of the Kazakh SSR was established - the head of the republic. The first President was elected by the Supreme Council. The powers of the President were limited to a large extent by the President of the USSR and the Supreme Council of the Republic. The Council of Ministers was formed by the Supreme Council and was accountable to it.
2. On November 20, 1990, amendments were made to the Constitution of the KazSSR. The status of the President was strengthened; he became not only the head of the republic, but also the head of the executive and administrative powers. The Council of Ministers was transformed into the Cabinet of Ministers and began to be formed by the President. In December 1990, general presidential elections took place.
3. On December 16, 1991, the independence of Kazakhstan was proclaimed. The President became the head of an independent state, his vertical powers with the President of the USSR and allied bodies disappeared. On January 28, 1993, the first Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan was adopted. The President is the head of state and the head of a unified system of executive power. The government is formed by the President, but the appointment of the Prime Minister and 4 ministers (foreign affairs, internal affairs, defense and finance), the chairman of the National Security Committee requires the consent of the Supreme Council. At this stage, there was a massive self-dissolution of local Soviets in 193, ending with the self-dissolution of the Supreme Council of the 12th convocation.
4. Adoption by the Supreme Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan before self-dissolution on December 10, 1993 of the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan “On the temporary delegation of additional powers to the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the heads of local administrations,” which granted the President the right to independently exercise a number of rights belonging to the Supreme Council or them jointly, incl. issue acts having the force of law and call a referendum. In March 1994, the first professional parliament was elected - the Supreme Council of the 13th convocation, which was declared illegitimate by the decision of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated March 6, 1995 and, as a result, was dissolved by the President. At this stage, for a significant time there was no legislative body in the country; legislative powers were exercised by the President. On April 29, 1995, the powers of the President were extended at a republican referendum. A draft of a new Constitution has been developed.
5. On August 30, 1995, the second Constitution of independent Kazakhstan was adopted at a republican referendum. The president is the head of state, equidistant from all branches of government, not included in any of them, and serves as an arbiter between government bodies.
6. On October 7, 1998, amendments and additions were made to the Constitution, changing the requirements for the President, his term of office, competence, and increasing the role of Parliament.
7. On May 21, 2007, amendments and additions were made to the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan, as a result of which the Government is formed taking into account the party majority in the Mazhilis and needs its trust; in cases established by the Constitution, it is responsible to the Mazhilis. These amendments, in essence, led to the transition to a presidential-parliamentary republic.
Presidential form of government - a feature of the form of government in the Republic of Kazakhstan, which lies in the fact that in the system of separation of powers, the President of the Republic occupies the legal status “above the branches of government. This means that the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, by his legal status, is not integrated, not “built in” to any extent in any of the branches of state power - neither in the legislative, nor in the executive, nor in the judicial, and is outside the branches of state power as the head state and as its highest official. Therefore, in accordance with Article 40 of the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan of 1995, it is the President of the Republic who determines the main directions of the domestic and foreign policy of the state, represents Kazakhstan within the country and in international relations and ensures the coordinated functioning of all branches of state power and the responsibility of government bodies to the people. In addition, the President of the Republic has the unlimited right to speak on behalf of the people and the state, as he is elected directly and directly by the people.
On the other hand, the constitutional powers of the President of the Republic allow him to interfere with the powers of the legislative, executive and judicial powers. In the sphere of the legislative branch of state power, the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan on issues related to the legislative and legislative process:
He has the right to initiate at a joint meeting of the Chambers of Parliament the issue of delegating legislative powers to him in accordance with subparagraph 3 of Article 53 of the Constitution. In the event that Parliament delegates legislative powers to the President of the Republic, the President of the Republic will issue laws.
In addition, the President of the Republic, in accordance with paragraph 1 of Article 61 of the Constitution, has the right of legislative initiative. The President of the Republic, like members of Parliament or the Government, can initiate those draft laws that provide for a reduction in state revenues or an increase in state expenditures. As a rule, draft laws providing for a reduction in state revenues or an increase in state expenditures can be introduced only if there is a positive opinion from the Government of the Republic. However, for draft legislative acts submitted to the Mazhilis of Parliament in accordance with the legislative initiative of the President of the Republic, a positive opinion of the Government is not required, even if the draft laws initiated by the President of the Republic provide for a reduction in state revenues or an increase in state expenditures (clause 6 of Article 61 of the Constitution) . The President of the Republic also instructs the Government to submit a bill to the Mazhilis of Parliament. In this case, the content of bills may be determined by the President of the Republic. In addition, the President of the Republic has the right to submit for consideration by Parliament a draft on introducing amendments and additions to the Constitution.
Paragraph 2 of Article 61 of the Constitution establishes that the President of the Republic has the right to determine the priority of consideration of draft laws, as well as to declare the consideration of a draft law urgent, meaning that Parliament must consider this draft within a month from the date of its submission. If Parliament fails to comply with this requirement, the President of the Republic has the right to issue a decree that has the force of law, which is valid until Parliament adopts a new law in the manner prescribed by the Constitution.
In addition, the President of the Republic not only signs laws, but also has the right to veto laws adopted by Parliament, and can also appeal to the Constitutional Council to verify the constitutionality of laws adopted by Parliament. True, Parliament can overcome the President’s objections to laws adopted by Parliament with at least two-thirds of the votes of deputies of each of the Chambers of Parliament by consistently considering this issue, first in the Mazhilis, and then in the Senate. The President's objections to constitutional laws are overcome in the same manner, but by no less than three-quarters of the votes of the total number of deputies of each Chamber of Parliament (clause 2, clause 2, Article 54 of the Constitution).
During the period between sessions of Parliament, the President of the Republic, on his own initiative, at the proposal of the chairmen of the Chambers or at least one third of the total number of deputies of Parliament, may convene an extraordinary session of Parliament. It can only consider issues that served as the basis for its convening, including, in our opinion, issues related to the need for urgent adoption of certain laws or ratification of international treaties of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
The President of the Republic, like the Prime Minister and members of the Government, the Chairman of the National Bank, the Prosecutor General, the Chairman of the National Security Committee has the right to attend any meetings of the Chambers of Parliament and be heard, for example, on the content of certain bills.
The President of the Republic, after consultations with the chairmen of the Chambers of Parliament and the Prime Minister, has the right to early dissolve the Parliament or the Mazhilis of the Parliament. However, it should be borne in mind here that, unlike other countries where heads of state can dissolve only the lower house of parliament, the President of Kazakhstan can dissolve the entire Parliament of the country along with the Senate and the Mazhilis, or only the Mazhilis of the Parliament. The grounds for the dissolution of Parliament or the Mazhilis of Parliament by the President of the Republic are established in paragraph 1 of Article 63 of the Constitution. The dissolution of Parliament or the Mazhilis of Parliament may also be associated with issues of the legislative (legislative) process. Thus, the President of the Republic can actively influence the legislative branch of government on issues of lawmaking and legislative process.
In the sphere of the executive branch of government, the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan:
Forms the Government in the manner prescribed by the Constitution. The specified authority of the President of the Republic includes the appointment, with the consent of the Mazhilis of the Parliament, of the Prime Minister of the Republic, determination of the structure of the Government, appointment of members of the Government, etc. In addition, the President of the Republic creates, abolishes and reorganizes the central executive bodies of the Republic that are not part of the Government, and presides over meetings of the Government on particularly important issues. The President of the Republic, within ten days, considers the issue of accepting or rejecting the resignation of the Government or any of its members, and also has the right, on his own initiative, to decide to terminate the powers of the Government and dismiss any of its members.
At the level of local executive bodies, the President of the Republic appoints akims of regions, cities of republican significance and the capital with the consent of the maslikhats of regions, cities of republican significance and the capital, respectively. Akims of other administrative-territorial units can either be appointed or elected to office, but in the manner determined by the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The President of the Republic has the right, at his discretion, to dismiss akims from office. It is unclear here whether the President of the Republic has the right to dismiss, at his discretion, elected akims from positions, or only appointed ones (see paragraph 4 of Article 87 of the Constitution).
As for the powers of the President of the Republic in relation to acts of the executive branch of state power, he cancels or suspends, in whole or in part, the effect of acts of the Government and the Prime Minister of the Republic, akims of regions, cities of republican significance and the capital (clause 3 of Article 44 of the Constitution) .
In addition, the President of the Republic has powers in relation to state bodies directly subordinate to him and accountable to him on issues of education, abolition and reorganization of these bodies, and also appoints and dismisses their leaders. These bodies may be included in the system of executive bodies of the Republic, depending on their goals, objectives, functions, powers, etc. The President of the Republic also has other powers in relation to the bodies directly subordinate and accountable to him.
In the sphere of the judicial branch of state power, the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan:
Based on the recommendation of the Supreme Judicial Council, it submits to the Senate of Parliament for election and dismissal of the Chairman and judges of the Supreme Court of the Republic, and also, on the recommendation of the Supreme Judicial Council, appoints and dismisses chairmen and judges of local and other courts.
In addition, the President of the Republic pardons citizens, including those sentenced to death by the court of the judicial system of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Thus, the court's conviction for the death penalty may not be carried out if the President of the Republic pardons the person sentenced to death. It should also be borne in mind that the actions of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan cannot be the subject of consideration in court 126 .
In addition, the Constitution and laws of the Republic of Kazakhstan provide for the President of the Republic to exercise other powers, for example, to raise objections to decisions of the Constitutional Council in whole or in part, etc., which characterize the peculiarity of the presidential form of government in the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Scheme
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State power in the Republic of Kazakhstan is united, carried out on the basis of the Constitution and laws in accordance with the principle of its division into legislative, executive and judicial branches and interaction with each other using a system of checks and balances |
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President Republic of Kazakhstan ensures the coordinated functioning of all branches of government and the responsibility of government bodies to the people |
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Representative power 127 |
Executive branch |
Judicial branch |
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Parliament Republic of Kazakhstan is the highest representative body of the Republic, exercising legislative functions. Parliament belongs to the legislative branch of government |
Government Republic of Kazakhstan exercises executive power of the Republic of Kazakhstan, heads the system of executive bodies and manages their activities |
Supreme Court Republic of Kazakhstan is the highest judicial body in civil, criminal and other cases under the jurisdiction of local and other courts, exercises supervision over their activities in the procedural forms provided for by law and provides clarifications on issues of judicial practice |
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Local representative bodies - maslikhats express the will of the population of the relevant administrative-territorial units and, taking into account national interests, determine the measures necessary for its implementation and control their implementation. Maslikhats do not belong to the legislative branch of government, since maslikhats do not issue legislative acts |
Local executive bodies are part of the unified system of executive bodies of the Republic of Kazakhstan, ensure the implementation of the national policy of the executive branch in combination with the interests and needs of the development of the relevant territory |
Local And other Courts Republic established by law |
The Republic of Kazakhstan is a unitary state with a presidential form of government. According to the Constitution, the country establishes itself as a democratic, secular, legal and social state, the highest values of which are the person, his life, rights and freedoms.
Kazakhstan gained independence on December 16, 1991. The capital is the city of Astana. The state language is Kazakh, Russian has the status of a language of interethnic communication. The monetary unit is tenge.
The President of the Republic of Kazakhstan is the head of state, its highest official, who determines the main directions of the state's domestic and foreign policy and represents Kazakhstan within the country and in international relations. The President is a symbol and guarantor of the unity of the people and state power, the inviolability of the Constitution, the rights and freedoms of man and citizen.
The government exercises executive power, heads the system of executive bodies and manages their activities.
Legislative functions are performed by the Parliament, which consists of two Chambers - the Senate and the Mazhilis, operating on a permanent basis. The Senate is formed by deputies representing two people from each region, city of republican significance and the capital. Fifteen deputies of the Senate are appointed by the President, taking into account the need to ensure representation of national, cultural and other significant interests of society.
The Mazhilis consists of one hundred and seven deputies, nine of them are elected by the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan. The term of office of Senate deputies is six years, Mazhilis deputies are five years. Currently, three parties are represented in the Mazhilis - Nur Otan, Ak Zhol and the Communist People's Party of Kazakhstan.
The administrative-territorial structure of the country includes 14 regions and 2 cities of republican significance.
The population of Kazakhstan exceeds 18 million people. The ethnic structure of society, according to the 2009 national census, is as follows: Kazakhs - 63.07%, Russians - 23.7%, Uzbeks - 2.85%, Ukrainians - 2.08%, Uighurs - 1.4%, Tatars - 1.28%, Germans - 1.11%, others - 4.51%.
Occupying an area of 2 million 724.9 thousand square kilometers, the country is in ninth place in terms of area in the world. In the north and west, the republic has common borders with Russia - 7,591 km (the longest continuous land border in the world), in the east with China - 1,783 km, in the south with Kyrgyzstan - 1,242 km, Uzbekistan - 2,351 km and Turkmenistan - 426 km. The total length of land borders is 13,200 km.
Kazakhstan is the largest country in the world that does not have direct access to the World Ocean. Most of The country's territory is made up of deserts - 44% and semi-deserts - 14%. Steppes occupy 26% of the area of Kazakhstan, forests - 5.5%. There are 8.5 thousand rivers in the country. The northeastern part of the Caspian Sea is included within the republic. The Aral Sea is divided between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. There are 48 thousand large and small lakes in Kazakhstan. The largest of them are Balkhash, Zaysan and Alakol. The remoteness from the oceans determines the country's sharply continental climate.
The country's mineral resource base consists of more than 5 thousand deposits, the estimated value of which is estimated at tens of trillions of dollars. The republic ranks first in the world in proven reserves of zinc, tungsten and barite, second in silver, lead and chromite, third in copper and fluorite, fourth in molybdenum, sixth in gold.
Kazakhstan also has significant oil and gas resources (9th place in the world in terms of proven oil reserves), which are concentrated in western regions. In addition, the republic ranks 8th in coal reserves and 2nd in uranium reserves.
Kazakhstan is one of the world's top ten grain exporters and one of the leaders in flour exports. 70% of arable land in the north is occupied by grain and industrial crops - wheat, barley, millet. In the south of the country rice, cotton, and tobacco are grown. Kazakhstan is also famous for its gardens, vineyards and melons. One of the leading directions agriculture is livestock farming.
The main export goods are products of the mining, fuel and energy, metallurgical and chemical industries, as well as the grain industry. The republic's main trading partners are Russia, China, European and CIS countries.
To diversify the economy, the country is successfully implementing a program of industrial and innovative development, in accordance with which old enterprises are modernized and new enterprises are opened.
Kazakhstan is implementing a large-scale project “New Silk Road“, which should revive the country’s historical role as the main link of the continent and turn it into the largest business and transit hub in the region - a kind of bridge between Europe and Asia. By 2020, the volume of transit cargo traffic through the republic should almost double.
In 2014, the Head of State announced the “Nurly Zhol” large-scale infrastructure construction program, designed to connect the regions of Kazakhstan with main roads and modernize the logistics, social and industrial infrastructure.
Kazakhstan has begun to implement the “Nation Plan - 100” concrete steps", which provides for fundamental changes in order to implement the Five People's Reforms: the formation of a professional state apparatus, ensuring the rule of law, industrialization and economic growth, identity and unity, the formation of an accountable state.
The country is undergoing large-scale social modernization - new schools, vocational colleges and universities are being built, modern medical clinics and hospitals are opening, and the system of social support for the population is being improved.
Currently, representatives of 130 ethnic groups live in the republic, and a consultative and advisory body for the harmonization of interethnic relations, the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan, is successfully operating. Congresses of leaders of world and traditional religions are held in Astana on a regular basis.
As a leader in Central Asia, the republic makes a significant contribution to strengthening the stability of the region. The country has also achieved great success on the world stage. This is evidenced by Kazakhstan’s chairmanship of the OSCE and the holding of the Summit of this authoritative international organization in Astana in December 2010. A significant initiative of the country was the launch and development of the CICA project - the Asian analogue of the OSCE. Positive Feedback received the creative activity of Kazakhstan as the chairman of the leading organization of the Islamic world - OIC. The country is also a recognized leader in the global anti-nuclear movement.
Kazakhstan is a member of the Eurasian Economic Union.
Stable growth in all sectors of the economy, international recognition, political stability became the basis for the prosperity of Kazakhstani society. Kazakhstan is a country looking to the future, which maintains its cultural traditions and successfully realizes the enormous creative potential in the modern dynamic world.
Video tour of Kazakhstan
According to the Constitution, Kazakhstan is a unitary state with a presidential form of government, having three independent branches of government: executive, legislative and judicial.
President The Republic of Kazakhstan is the head of state, its highest official, who determines the main directions of the state’s domestic and foreign policy and represents Kazakhstan within the country and in international relations. The President of the Republic is a symbol and guarantor of the unity of the people and state power, the inviolability of the Constitution, the rights and freedoms of man and citizen. The President of the Republic ensures the coordinated functioning of all branches of government and the responsibility of government bodies to the people. The president is elected for a five-year term from citizens at least 40 years of age, who have lived in the republic for at least 10 years and are fluent in the state (i.e., Kazakh) language.
Executive power carried out by the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
The government heads the system of executive bodies and manages their activities. The Government is a collegial body and in all its activities is responsible to the President of the Republic, and in cases provided for by the Constitution, to the Mazhilis of the Parliament and the Parliament. Members of the Government are accountable to the chambers of Parliament in the case provided for in subparagraph 6 of Article 57 of the Constitution.
The government is formed by the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the manner prescribed by the Constitution.
Legislative branch has a bicameral parliament.
The Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan is the highest representative body of the Republic, exercising legislative functions. Parliament consists of two chambers: the Senate and the Mazhilis, which operate on a permanent basis.
The Senate is formed by deputies representing, in the manner established by constitutional law, two people from each region, city of republican significance and the capital of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Fifteen deputies of the Senate are appointed by the President of the Republic, taking into account the need to ensure representation in the Senate of national, cultural and other significant interests of society.
The Mazhilis consists of one hundred and seven deputies elected in the manner established by constitutional law. A Member of Parliament cannot be a member of both houses at the same time.
The term of office of Senate deputies is six years, the term of office of Mazhilis deputies is five years.
The legislative branch is effectively controlled by the president. The government is accountable to the president, but not to parliament.
Judicial power carried out by the Constitutional Court and the system of local courts.
Justice in the Republic of Kazakhstan is administered only by the court. Judicial power is exercised through civil, criminal and other forms of legal proceedings established by law. In cases provided for by law, criminal proceedings are carried out with the participation of jurors. The courts of the Republic are the Supreme Court of the Republic, local and other courts of the Republic established by law. The judicial system of the Republic is established by the Constitution of the Republic and constitutional law. The establishment of special and emergency courts under any name is not permitted.
Judicial power is exercised on behalf of the Republic of Kazakhstan and has as its purpose the protection of the rights, freedoms and legitimate interests of citizens and organizations, ensuring the implementation of the Constitution, laws, other normative legal acts, and international treaties of the Republic. Judicial power extends to all cases and disputes arising on the basis of the Constitution, laws, other normative legal acts, and international treaties of the Republic. Decisions, sentences and other decrees of courts are binding throughout the territory of the Republic.
Local authorities
Administratively, Kazakhstan is divided into 14 regions, the capital city of Astana and the cities of Alma-Ata and Leninsk (the control center of the Baikonur Cosmodrome), which have the status of a region (until 1997 there were 19 regions in the country, 5 of which were subsequently abolished). Deputies of local councils are directly elected from citizens over 20 years of age who are not members of the Mazhilis. At the same time, akims (governors) of regions are appointed by the president and are responsible only to him. In October 1998, a decree of President Nazarbayev determined that within 7 years there would be a transition to direct elections of all heads of local authorities.
Political parties
The 1995 Constitution allows political parties to operate after they are officially registered; no party can impose its ideology on the state. The creation of religious parties is prohibited. Although there are more than 100 associations and movements in the country that can be considered political parties, only a few of them are registered. Three parties were created on the initiative of President Nazarbayev. These include the Socialist Party, which is the successor to the dissolved Communist Party of Kazakhstan. In 1991 the People's Congress was registered. In October 1992, the National Unity Party was created, which is currently considered the party of the president. The party has already changed several leaders. In 1994, registration of the Communist Party was allowed, which was banned after the coup in August 1991. There are also the Peasant Union, the National Democratic Party “Zheltoksan”, as well as the associations “Azamat” and “Azat”, which each include several small parties and opposition figures. The interests of the Russian minority are expressed by the Lad and Unity movements. The interests of Kazakh nationalists are expressed by the Alash movement.
The article was prepared by specialists from SoyuzPravoInform LLC.
