The president of Kazakhstan has delivered a nationwide televised address to outline a formally dramatic dilution of his own powers and a shift to a more parliamentary form of government, according to EurasiaNet.org.
Nursultan Nazarbayev described the strongly presidential model in force since independence as necessary to “overcome the enormous difficulties of forming the state,” but said that the time had arrived for a new model.
“The basic essence is that the president will give some of his powers to parliament and the government,” he said in an address televised on all national channels on January 25. “The proposed reform is a serious redistribution of power and a democratization of the political system as a whole.”
Nazarbayev said around 40 areas of responsibility would be delegated from the president’s office to the executive or parliament. Those would include what Nazarbayev termed the “regulation of social and economic processes.” Priority areas should be changed by adoption of legislative amendments by the end of the current session of parliament, he said.
Parliament will assume a greater role in forming the government — a fact that Nazarbayev said would enhance the accountability of the Cabinet.
“The winning party in parliamentary elections will have a decisive influence over the formation of the government,” Nazarbayev said.
In another ostensible enhancement of the parliament’s status, Nazarbayev suggested it was necessary to simplify the procedure whereby lawmakers could express their lack of confidence in members of the government.
“This will strengthen the control of the legislature over the executive,” he said.
Still, the president will retain veto powers over any decisions adopted by the government and the prime minister.
In one notable renunciation of authority, Nazarbayev said that the time had passed for presidential decrees to be bestowed with the status of law, EurasiaNet.org says.
Also, parliament will be granted greater authority over local government, which potentially hints at a planned transition away from the existing appointment system for many of the country’s most important local leaders. Mayors and governors of key entities — including the cities of Astana and Almaty, as well as Kazakhstan’s 14 regions, together accounting for around 55 percent of the nationwide population of 17.6 million — are presidential appointees.
Turning to the justice system, Nazarbayev said more effort was needed to “perfect the work” of the Constitutional Council, the justice system and the office of prosecutors. More than rhetoric will be required on this front since the courts remain deeply prone to political interference — including, it is said, from the president’s office — not to speak of corruption, EurasiaNet.org noted.
