State structure
The principles of the government organization of the Republic of Kazakhstan are reflected in the country’s Constitution, which was adopted at the national referendum on 30 August, 1995. The most recent major constitutional reform was implemented in 2007.
Kazakhstan identifies itself as a democratic, secular, rule-of-law and social state, whose greatest values are the people, their lives, rights and freedoms.
According to the Constitution, Kazakhstan is a unitary state with a presidential form of governance. The unitary nature of governmental structure of the country precludes the existence of other nation-states or autonomous districts in the country.
The President is the Head of State and its highest official, who determines the main directions for domestic and foreign policy.
One of the fundamental principles of the Constitution of Kazakhstan is the principle of the people sovereignty. According to the given principle, the single source of the state power in Kazakhstan is the people. The power is exercised by the people through a republican referendum and free election, or is delegated to the state authorities.
The basic democratic principle of separation of powers into three branches (the executive, the legislative and the judicial) has been adopted and is functioning effectively in Kazakhstan. The President, as the Head of State provides for a harmonious functioning of all three branches of power and their responsibility to people.
The President is elected on the basis of universal equal and direct voting by secret ballot, for a term of 5 years, and cannot remain in power longer than two terms in row. However, these constitutional provisions do not apply to the first Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, in view of his exceptional merits in creating independent Kazakhstan.
The Government of Kazakhstan is the highest executive power authority, which heads the system of executive organs and is in charge of their activity. The head of the Government is the Prime Minister, who presents proposals to the country’s President on the composition and structure of the Cabinet of Ministers. The Prime Minister is appointed by the President after consultations with political parties factions represented in the lower house (Majilis) of the Parliament, and having received their consent regarding the proposed nominee.
The highest representative authority in Kazakhstan is the permanent professional bicameral Parliament that performs legislative duties. The upper house of Parliament – the Senate, consists of deputies, which include two representatives from the country’s each region, republican-status cities, and the capital of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Fifteen Senate deputies are appointed by the President, because of the necessity for the government to guarantee the representation of the national, cultural and other societal interests in the Senate. The lower house of Parliament is Majilis, which is made up of 107 deputies, 98 of which are chosen via party list from the ranks of the parties that prevail in the elections. The other 9 deputies are appointed to the lower house by the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan, which has status as a constitutional body. The term of the office of the Senate deputies is six years, while the term of office for the deputies of Majilis is five years.
As regards the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan, the constitutional status of this organization has resulted from the important part played by the Assembly to ensure domestic stability. Representatives of more than 120 ethnic groups live in the country. Under these conditions the Assembly plays an important role in maintaining interethnic harmony and sustainable development of interethnic relations in the country.
The highest authority in the country representing the judicial branch of power is the Supreme Court. This state power authority carries out oversight of local and other courts within the limits of the statutory procedural provisions, and provides clarification of court procedures.
Interethnic and inter-faith accord
Kazakhstan is an example of interethnic and inter-faith accord. A fundamental factor of national consolidation, internal political stability and civil peace is Kazakhstan’s patriotism.
Conditions for the development of languages of representatives of all ethnic groups living in Kazakhstan have been created: at 88 schools the whole curriculum is taught in Uzbek, Tajik, Uyghur and Ukrainian, and languages of 22 ethnic groups are subjects of study at 108 schools. Also 195 specialized language centers teaching 30 languages to children and adults have been opened. Now over 7 000 people study in these centers.
Apart from Kazakh and Russian theaters, there are Uzbek, Uyghur, Korean, German national theatres. Notably, three of them are the only theatres of their kind in the CIS.
A unique public and political institution – the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan – has been established in the country. The idea to form such an institution was put forward by President Nursultan Nazarbayev in 1992.
The Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan unites representatives of almost all ethnic groups in the country. This body was created to solve issues related to the exercise of the constitutional rights of representatives of every ethnic group living in Kazakhstan to use their mother language and culture as well as to elaborate strategic goals of national policy in the country.
Over the years of its activity, the Assembly has been transformed from a little known structure into a constitutional body with wide powers. In 2007 it received a constitutional status. 9 deputies of the Majilis are appointed to the lower house by the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan.
Interethnic accord is not possible unless a dialogue among religions is established. 4 166 religious organizations and 621 ethnic-cultural organizations, which represent 46 religions and denominations, are registered in the republic.
Kazakhstan has become a venue for global dialogue among religions. The Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions, held in Astana every three years by the initiative of President of Kazakhstan, has become a significant contribution by the country to the development of mutual understanding and global dialogue among civilizations.
Civil Society institutions
Kazakhstan has more than six thousand non-governmental organizations which have been active in all important areas, including the environment, youth, women, health, culture, art, science, education, human rights and other organizations.
NGO civil forums have been carried out on a regular basis and have become a real tool of national dialogue, ensuring interaction between state bodies and non-governmental organizations in strategic areas of social reform.
Within the framework of the second Civil Forum the Civil Alliance of Kazakhstan, uniting NGOs, businessmen, representatives of trade unions for working together in the development of civil society, was established. The Civil Alliance consists of regional organizations and over 500 NGOs.
On the initiative of the President, a public Chamber under the Majilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan was created to improve the law-making process, to further develop a regular dialogue between civil society institutions and MPs and to increase the efficiency of Parliament’s activity.
To accelerate the development of civil society institutions and to implement civil initiatives the Conception of the Development of Civil Society in the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2006-2011 was adopted.
Media
8 248 media companies, of which 212 are electronic, over 2 000 international media and over 9 000 websites with the domain .kz. are registered in Kazakhstan. It is worth noting that 85% of Kazakhstan’s media companies are non-governmental and belong to social associations political parties and religious organizations.
Over 2100 periodicals, including 1 500 newspapers and 650 magazines, are published in the republic. In Addition to social and political printed media there are specific publications for advertising, entertainment, religion, women, youth, children, science, technology and other areas of interest.
Newspapers and magazines are published in eleven languages, radio programs are broadcasted in eight languages, and TV programs are transmitted in seven languages including Ukrainian, Polish, German, Tatar, Korean, Uyghur, Turkish, Dungan, Azerbaijani and others.
More than 150 representatives of foreign media are permanently accredited at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan.
