Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev has announced early presidential elections on one of the central TV channels.
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev has announced early presidential
elections on one of the central TV channels.
The Constitutional Court of Kazakhstan did not approve amendments to
the Constitution on extension of presidential terms, as they are
unconstructive today. The chairman of the court, Igor Rogov, said that
the reason is the ambiguity of the statement.
The proposal to hold a referendum on the extension of presidential
terms until 2020 was initiated by the lower chamber of the Kazakh
parliament. The senate approved the initiative. The Central Electoral
Commission approved the decision as well on December 27, 2010.
President Nursultan Nazarbayev spoke out against the initiative.
Nazarbayev proposed early presidential elections as a suitable
solution, which takes into account the democratic principles. The
elections reduce his terms of office by 2 years.
The Editor-in-Chief of Vestnik Kavkaza, Alexey Vlasov, had made the
right forecasts for the events in Kazakhstan. He commented on the
president’s speech on January 28. Vlasov said that he came to the
conclusion on his recent visit to Astana. His interlocutor, Nurlan
Yerimbetov, shared this view. However, they conceded the coincidence
of terms of presidential and parliamentary elections. The elections
are the referendum itself. Citizens supporting the referendum may vote
in the early elections. It is the date that needs to be determined,
the editor-in-chief of Vestnik Kavkaza said.
He believes that such an approach demonstrates that Nursultan
Nazarbayev is the number one politician in Kazakhstan. The president
demonstrates the democratic procedure of elections to the West. There
is the Kazakhstan-2020 coalition and the necessary strategic programs
for modernization. The Nur Otan party will approve a new program which
will become the electoral basis for Nazarbayev in the coming
elections, Vlasov said.
Nursultan Nazarbayev will have formal support for his initiative from
Russia and the West. He supports the Constitution and he is not
against a referendum. He appears to be a politician who is not
prolonging his power artificially and boldly chooses elections.
