On Sunday, June 5, Kazakhstan is holding a referendum on amendments and additions to the Constitution.
One question was included in the voting ballot: "Do you accept the amendments and additions to the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan set out in the draft law "On amendments and additions to the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan", published in the media on May 6, 2022?".
More than 11.7 million citizens of Kazakhstan will be able to vote in the referendum. It will be monitored by 272 representatives from 25 foreign countries and 11 international organizations.
In total, over 10,000 polling stations have been established in the republic. At the same time, 65 precinct commissions operate in 52 countries of the world. Voting began at 07:00 local time (04:00 Moscow time) and will end at 20:00 (17:00 Moscow time). After that, the counting of votes will begin, the counting time should not exceed 12 hours.
The referendum will be declared valid if 50% of voters plus one voter take part in it. Changes and additions to the basic law are considered adopted if more than half of the citizens voted for them in at least two-thirds of the regions, cities of republican significance and the capital, that is, in 12 out of 17 regions. The report of the Central Referendum Commission on the results of the plebiscite must be published within seven days after the voting.
Let us remind you that in March 2022, the President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, presented a plan to restructure the political model of the country's development. As the head of state noted, this is the final transition from a super-presidential form of government to a presidential republic with a strong parliament. At the end of April, Tokayev proposed holding a referendum on amending the Constitution at a session of the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan.
In accordance with the amendments, the Head of state's powers are reduced, and the role of Parliament and local representative bodies is significantly strengthened. In addition to this, the human rights sphere is being systematically strengthened, the death penalty is finally abolished, the Constitutional Court is being recreated, and the position of Secretary of State will be renamed State Counselor.
In addition to this, provisions on the country's first president status, Nursultan Nazarbayev, are excluded. In particular, the provision on the right of the first president of Kazakhstan to be elected to the post of Head of state more than twice in a row was excluded, the clause that the first president's status and powers are determined by the Constitution and Constitutional law was eliminated. The wording about Nazarbayev and his status' immutability as the nation's leader is also excluded.
Moreover, it is also proposed to enshrine in the Constitution that the land, its subsoil, water resources, flora and fauna belong to the people, and on behalf of the people the right of ownership is exercised by the state.
