Kazakh Constitutional Court calls referendum illegal

The Constitutional Court of Kazakhstan has said the proposed
referendum on an extension of the presidential term of Kazakh
President Nursultan Nazarbayev, approved by parliament on January 14,
2011, a violation of the Constitution, the court chairman Igor Rogov
said, RIA Novosti reports.

The final decision on the referendum is still up to the president however.

The Kazakh Central Electoral Commission registered an initiative group
on December 27. The group proposed extension of presidential terms
until December 26, 2020, via a referendum. 200,000 signatures were
needed, 5 million were collected. Nazarbayev declined the parliament's
amendments to the Constitution on extension of terms. However, the
deputies overcame the president's veto. The president did not sign the
amendments and passed them to the Constitutional Court.

Western states and various international organizations, including the
OSCE, expressed negative attitude towards the referendum. The US State
Secretary Hillary Clinton urged Kazakhstan to keep to democracy and
avoid the referendum last week.

Nazarbayev said at a joint session of both chambers of the parliament
that he will stay at power for as long as possible.