After the violent coup attempt that took place in January 2022, the Kazakh political system has undergone a number of major changes. They were the ones discussed at the meeting. Among the invited speakers are Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Kazakhstan to Belarus Askar Beisenbaev, representatives of political, expert and academic circles of our country.
— The constitutional amendments that were introduced as a result of the national referendum held in June 2022 opened the way for new democratic principles in Kazakhstan, including the increased influence of the Parliament, the limitation of presidential powers, the simplification of registration procedures for new political parties, the direct election of rural akims. But the main thing is that the people’s trust in the authorities has strengthened, – said Askar Beisenbaev.
Today, Kazakhstan is on the verge of early elections of deputies to the Majilis (lower house of parliament) and maslikhats (local representative bodies), which will be held on March 19.
The Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Kazakhstan to Belarus noted that the President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, proposed holding elections to the Majilis and maslikhats in his Address to the people in September last year. More than six months have passed since then.
“And this is the first time in the modern history of Kazakhstan that candidates had so much time to prepare for the election campaign,” the diplomat stressed.The upcoming elections represent the final stage in a cycle of political renewal initiated by the President, which began with the presidential elections on November 20 last year and continued with the Senate elections on January 14 this year.
Members of seven political parties will compete for seats in parliament. At the same time, two of them were created quite recently – in November – January.
Anatoly Boyashov, a political scientist and expert from the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly, believes that there are three important factors in Kazakhstan that will ensure a high voter turnout in the upcoming elections.
– This is the renewal of the personnel of managers, the development of social lifts for young people and groups with limited political participation (especially in the regions) and the strengthening of the unique system of public administration in the country. They develop the legal culture of the population, increase the confidence of citizens in elections and guarantee the free expression of will of everyone, – Anatoly Boyashov is convinced.
Director of the Center for International Studies of Belarusian State University, moderator of the event Oleg Leshenyuk noted the key trends that determine the development of the political system of Kazakhstan today:
– We are witnessing a serious change in approaches to public administration, personnel policy, decision-making and responsibility for their implementation. In addition, a qualitatively new state of the country’s key political institution, the “just state”, is being formed on the basis of the “hearing state” concept. This, of course, contributes to the involvement of citizens and civil society institutions in the process of reforming and managing the country in the interests of both increasing the efficiency of the functioning of the state and its bodies, and improving the standard of living of the populationSpeaking about the prospects and priorities for the further development of Belarusian-Kazakh relations, Anton Dudarenok, head of the department of the Belarusian Institute for Strategic Studies , stressed how important it is to take into account the impact of modern challenges. “There is a real need for the public administration of the two countries to respond flexibly and make prompt decisions, coordinate national development strategies taking into account the current international situation, formulate key approaches based on which we should jointly respond to the challenges of our time,” the analyst said . — The experience of the political development of Kazakhstan is extremely important for Belarus in modern conditions. The course of transformations carried out in Kazakhstan demonstrates the systematic approach of the country’s leadership to strengthening the political system of the state. The steps taken in preparation for the elections create the basis for political competition and meet the demands of society for domestic political modernization and large-scale reforms.
Source: sb
