Astana, Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan’s new Constitution entered into force on July 1, and President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev set August 23 as the date for parliamentary elections required under the new framework. The new Basic Law replaces the country’s bicameral legislature with a single-chamber parliament.
Election timetable announced
The Constitution was adopted in a nationwide referendum on March 15, and Tokayev signed the decree calling elections shortly after it took effect.
The Central Election Commission will accept candidate nominations from July 2 to July 13. The official campaign period will run from July 23 to August 22, which will be the day of electoral silence. The newly elected parliament is expected to begin work before the start of the political season on September 1.
Final session of bicameral parliament
The outgoing Mazhilis and Senate held their final joint session on June 30, marking the end of Kazakhstan’s bicameral parliament after three decades.
Addressing lawmakers, Tokayev described the session as historic and said the outgoing parliament had overseen one of the country’s most significant periods of institutional transformation, including changes affecting the economic model and the country’s social values. He said more than 300 laws had been adopted during the current convocation, including major constitutional legislation and new tax and budget codes.
Priorities for the next parliament
Tokayev said the next parliament would focus on maintaining economic growth, reducing inflation, improving public administration, cutting bureaucracy and attracting investment. He said the goal was to make prosperity and improved living standards “irreversible.”
Party merger
Separately, Tokayev welcomed the merger of Amanat, the country’s biggest party, into the newly established Adilet party, according to Euronews.
Adilet, whose name means justice in Kazakh, was formed in April to support implementation of the new Constitution and initially had around 120,000 members. Following the merger, that number is expected to reach around one million, making it the most influential party in the country. Amanat, formerly known as Nur Otan, had been Kazakhstan’s ruling party for almost 30 years and was originally created in 1999 from the campaign headquarters that backed former president Nursultan Nazarbayev.
Constitutional significance
Kazakhstan’s Constitutional Court marked the Constitution’s entry into force with a scientific conference on June 30, Euronews reported.
Court chairperson Elvira Azimova said the new Basic Law enshrines, for the first time, principles including the protection of sovereignty, the rule of law, human rights, national unity and the development of education, science and innovation as constitutional priorities.
Replacement of the 1995 Basic Law
The new Constitution replaces the 1995 Basic Law, which had been amended six times, most recently in a 2022 referendum.
Constitutional Commission member Zhaksybek Kulekeyev said that, unlike previous amendments which focused largely on presidential powers, the new document represents a comprehensive redesign of the country’s political and constitutional system. He said that when changes were first announced, people had been “suspicious” about whether the president was seeking to extend his term, but that such doubts had since been dispelled.
