You have commented 338 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Kazakh president rejects calls for parliamentary republic
2019-09-07
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on Friday rejected calls for a switch to a parliamentary republic as he met opposition activists and public figures to discuss political reforms.

“I am convinced that Kazakhstan must remain a presidential republic, but the parliament will assume a worthy role in the political system,” he said.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on Friday rejected calls for a switch to a parliamentary republic made by opposition activists at recent public protests, but promised to give the Central Asian nation’s parliament a greater role.

Tokayev took over the oil-rich former Soviet republic this year, when his predecessor Nursultan Nazarbayev resigned after nearly three decades in power, and some groups have urged him to dismantle the highly centralized political system.

“I am convinced that Kazakhstan must remain a presidential republic, but the parliament will assume a worthy role in the political system,” Tokayev said at a meeting with opposition activists and public figures picked by his government to join a newly-established National Council of Public Confidence.

Tokayev said he wanted to boost political competition by amending electoral laws and give the parliament a bigger say in major decisions.

The Nur Otan party led by Nazarbayev holds more than 80 seats in the 107-seat lower house of parliament, which mostly rubberstamps legislation drafted by the government. The next parliamentary election is due next year.

Nazarbayev’s daughter Dariga Nazarbayeva is the speaker of parliament’s upper house.

Related:
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev: 2019-05-11 Kazakhstan Says Scores of Children Evacuated from Syria
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev: 2012-01-25 UN disarmament conference may fail, says Ban Ki-moon
Related:
Kazakhstan: 2019-08-30 WHO warns over 'dramatic resurgence' of measles in Europe
Kazakhstan: 2019-08-09 Jordanian who posed as Syrian refugee to claim benefits hacked ex-flatmate to death 'because he feared he had exposed his lie'
Kazakhstan: 2019-08-04 Isis Syria Only Stamped Out Where U.S Forces Are Present – Official Claims
Posted by:Fred

#1  Been watching Brexit?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru PB   2019-09-07 02:57  

00:00