Tokayev's Deep Dive into "Steppe Governance": Kazakhstan to Initiate Its Second Constitutional Reform Within Four Years
Konstantin Zudulin said: "The preamble of the constitution will be rewritten to reflect the historical development of the republic. This is what we should pay the most attention to."
Image caption: President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan
The Kazakh authorities plan to revise more than 40 provisions of the country's fundamental law. "In fact, the step we are preparing to take is as significant as adopting a completely new constitution," said Kassym-Jomart Tokayev during a meeting of the Kazakhstani National Congress (the highest advisory body under the president) held in Kyzylorda region.
This constitutional revision will abolish the current bicameral parliamentary system, namely the lower house (Maslikhat) and the upper house (Senate), replacing it with a unicameral National Congress, where parliamentary representatives will be elected entirely through proportional representation by party lists.
The new parliament will be granted a series of powers, including forming the Central Election Commission, the Constitutional Court, and the Supreme Audit Office.
The current Kazakhstani National Congress will be abolished, and the Kazakhstani People's Congress will also be abolished simultaneously.
In general, Kazakhstan's power structure will become more concise, clear, and easier for the president to control. The country will also establish the position of vice president, but this position will not be given authority sufficient to replace the head of state.
The duties of the vice president will include representing the republic at international forums, representing the president at the National Congress, communicating with non-governmental organizations, and carrying out other tasks assigned by the head of state.
It is worth noting that the Kazakhstani constitution will add a preface section, which will clearly state the national values of Kazakhstan, referring to these values as "unshakable through the ages."
Regarding the explicit and implicit goals of the Kazakhstani constitutional reform, Russian State Duma member and director of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Institute, Konstantin Zudulin, provided the following interpretation to "Svoboda" newspaper:
"Tokayev is solving the issue of political power transition in his own way. He certainly does not want to repeat the mistakes of his predecessor Nazarbayev in the events of 2022.
Since officially becoming the president of Kazakhstan in 2019, Tokayev has had serious differences with the first president Nazarbayev, who still controls real power through himself or his close associates. These differences eventually led to a well-known domestic conflict, forcing the Collective Security Treaty Organization to intervene in mediation, followed by a series of subsequent events.
Tokayev obviously wants to avoid such a situation. He is pushing for parliamentary reform, changing it into a unicameral system, and abolishing the Kazakhstani People's Congress. Throughout the 1990s and early 21st century, this congress was portrayed as a symbol of the country's ethnic diversity, regarded as an institution safeguarding the interests of minority groups (including the Russian group, which was not a minority at the time)."
"Svoboda" asked: These reform measures are all justified under the banner of democratization and expanding parliamentary powers. Is Kazakhstan really moving towards a parliamentary system?
"According to official information, this reform only involves the addition of judicial authority for personnel approval in the parliament.
As for discussions on directly approving government members by the parliament, like in Russia, it has not been put on the agenda yet. From what I know, there is no intention to transfer such powers to the parliament.
Actually, the vice president will be directly nominated by the Kazakhstani president. However, the establishment of this position may indicate that Tokayev intends to plan for future power succession from now on.
Let us recall that Kazakhstan, like Russia, once established the position of vice president during the early stages of its development. However, experience has shown that the vice president and their team could become another center within the power system. Therefore, Tokayev did not consider electing the vice president, but rather appointing the position through the president's nomination and the parliament's approval."
"Svoboda" asked: Will the new constitution create conditions for Tokayev to seek a new presidential term?
"Many people doubt whether Tokayev can fulfill his promise not to run again. Constitutional reform could serve as an excuse for him to change his previous statement, run again, and continue to exercise presidential powers.
Such speculation indeed exists.
Regardless, the most important point we should pay attention to is that the preamble of the constitution will restate the historical development of Kazakhstan, stating that the country is the successor of all steppe regimes from the medieval period and earlier."
"Svoboda" asked: Other post-Soviet republics' historical rewriting efforts have ultimately brought no positive results.
"This is a common phenomenon among independent countries in the post-Soviet space — they all try to trace the origins of their history back. We need to evaluate this from both political and historical dimensions.
From a historical perspective, works like the Kazakhstani film 'Tomyris' (which tells the story of Queen Tomyris of the Massagetae defeating Cyrus the Great, the founder of the Persian Empire, according to "Svoboda") can only be considered fictional fantasy films. Portraying Tomyris as an ancient Kazakh figure is clearly exaggerated, although it is popular among Kazakh people.
Even more unacceptable is the evaluation of Soviet history. Nazarbayev himself claimed that Kazakhstan was the republic that suffered the most during the Soviet era, which is obviously unfounded."
"Svoboda" asked: In fact, the concept of a "Republic of Kazakhstan" did not exist during the Soviet period.
"Kazakhstan's development went through several stages. Initially, it was an autonomous region under the Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic, and it was upgraded to a republic in the 1930s.
Before that, the Kazakhs were incorporated into the Russian Empire through the Kazakh Juz (tribal alliances, according to "Svoboda"). At that time, the Kazakh tribes had complex relationships with surrounding powers, so they chose to seek the protection of Russia.
Today, people in Kazakhstan are unwilling to mention the historical fact that the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, a quasi-state form, was born during the Soviet era. Such topics even cause resentment. The reason is simple: if you want to criticize the Soviet Union, how can you admit that your country's state form was formed during the Soviet era?
Things have even gone to the extent that some of my colleagues were immediately labeled as 'Kazakhphobes' and banned from entering the country just for pointing out the Soviet roots of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
They also do not want to remember that it was during the Soviet era that Kazakhstan achieved industrialization, became a focus area of the Virgin Lands Campaign, and experienced a leap in agriculture.
At that time, tens of thousands of people from across the Soviet Union participated in the construction of Kazakhstan — participants were not only Kazakh people. This history clearly conflicts with the claim that Kazakhstan was the most oppressed republic during the Soviet era.
I also want to point out that radical nationalist forces in Kazakhstan have become increasingly active recently, and this phenomenon is particularly evident on the internet. For example, they openly advocate for the rehabilitation of Kazakh collaborators who joined the Nazis and served under the SS during World War II.
There is also a growing call for Kazakhstan to distance itself from Russia. The response of Kazakhstani political elites to such statements, in our view, is often not appropriate."
Original: toutiao.com/article/7598139649107247658/
Disclaimer: This article represents the views of the author alone.