During the meeting, the President noted that the issue of redistributing powers between the branches of government is consistent and a logical step in the country’s development.
- Implementation of one of the five institutional reforms proposed by me is supposed to give the Government the additional executive powers in the economic sphere. In the President's competence will be the main defense capability issues, foreign policy, public administration, the Constitution protection and ensuring the effective work between branches of government, Nursultan Nazarbayev said.
The Head of State made a point of reducing the powers originally referred strictly to the President of Kazakhstan’s competence.
- For example, the program approval authority, issues of personnel changes in the Government, creation of new governing bodies can be transferred to the Government and the Parliament’ competence, - Nursultan Nazarbayev said.
The President of Kazakhstan emphasized the need for effective strengthening the Parliament’s role in the public administration system.
- Under our conditions, the Government is generated by the winning party or faction. Thus, the Parliament’s role should be redefined in relation to the Government on many issues, the Head of State said.
In addition, Nursultan Nazarbayev particularly dwelled on issues of public authorities’ accountability for the reforms and their successful implementation.
Head of the Working Group reported to the Head of State on the elaborated proposals for a redistribution of powers between branches of government.
- As consistent with the assigned mission the proposals have been formulated in three directions.
Firstly, the proposal for a redistribution of the Head of State’s statutory powers, which do not require amending the Constitution. In this regard, the proposals of state bodies have been generalized. In whole, the proposals relate to the powers that govern the social and economic sphere. They are economic governance issues, finances, state property, and the powers associated with solving certain issues of administrative-territorial structure.
Secondly, the Supreme Court and the Attorney General's Office have submitted offers for further improvement of the judicial and law enforcement systems, which do not require amending the Constitution. The proposal concerns the judicial control strengthening, further reducing the participation of prosecutors in civil and administrative proceedings. Total 13 proposals have been presented in the judicial sphere, that does not require constitutional changes.
Thirdly, the Working Group separately considered about 40 proposals, involving the correction of the Constitution norms. Representatives of the deputies, scientific and expert communities have taken an active part in the issue. The offers include expanding the Parliament and its Chambers’ powers, including the Government formation. It is also proposed to strengthen the accountability of the Government to the Parliament and its Chambers.
There have also been suggestions on strengthening the independence and responsibility of the Government. Part of the proposals aimed at the judicial sphere modernization is also associated with a change in the Constitution. In particular, we are talking about a possible clarification of the status and functions of the Supreme Court and determining the requirements for judges. It has been proposed to harmonize the rules governing the status and powers of prosecutors. The suggestions have been made on improving the mechanism of constitutional control.
Hereby, basic approaches that involve the redistribution of statutory authority without amending the Constitution are being brought in for your consideration.
The approaches to possible changing the Constitutional provisions, aimed primarily at increasing the Parliament’s powers, as well as strengthening the Government’s independence and responsibility have also been developed and brought in for your consideration, A.Dzhaksybekov said.
The Working Group member Z.Fedotova noted the constructive character of the proposed amendments.
- We are mainly passing over organizational and executive functions, which a Government should have; it is now the Cabinet’s responsibility.
As part of the Parliament’s activities, we see that the Majilis is largely empowered with the approval, Professor at the Public Administration Academy said.
At the same time, the Working Group member M.Beketaev has presented the analysis conducted by the Government to determine the norms anchoring the presidential powers.
- 11 constitutional laws, 20 codes and 298 laws have been analyzed. The norms that establish the President’s authority can be found in the 11 codes and 80 laws. The Cabinet, jointly with the Working Group, developed 32 proposals for redistribution of the Head of State’s powers. These suggestions involve amendments to the legislation, and do not require the Constitution amendments, the Minister of Justice said.
Also, "Kazakhstan Union of Lawyers" Republican Public Association Chairman has noted that there is a discussion based on the analysis in all branches.
- The legal community is backing up the reforms, noting their relevance and timeliness, R.Mukashev said.
Other members of the Working Group had also the floor at the meeting.
