Photo: akorda.kz
Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has proposed a parliamentary reform to transition from a bicameral legislature to a unicameral parliament. He announced the initiative in his annual address to the nation.
“Today I would like to put forward the proposal to establish a unicameral parliament in the foreseeable future. I must immediately stress that this is a very serious matter, and haste in making such a decision is completely inappropriate. This reform should be the subject of thorough discussion within civil society, the expert community, and, of course, the current parliament. I believe that given the extraordinary nature of the reform, at least a year will be needed for debate. After that, in 2027, a nationwide referendum could be held, followed by the necessary constitutional amendments,” Akorda quoted the president as saying.
According to Tokayev, if the reform is adopted, members of the new parliament should be elected by party lists. Currently, Kazakhstan has a mixed electoral system: deputies of the Mazhilis (the lower house) are chosen both by party lists and through single-member districts, while senators (upper house members) are partly elected and partly appointed by the president.
Tokayev recalled that he himself once served as Senate chairman, a chamber that would be abolished under the reform. “The Senate as the upper house of the Kazakh parliament was established in 1995 under rather difficult and unstable political conditions, when our country was only beginning its thorny path toward building state institutions. Over the past thirty years, the Senate has honorably and effectively fulfilled its historic mission of ensuring the stability of statehood,” he said.
Currently, the Senate speaker is the second-ranking official in the state. If the president is unable to perform his duties, the powers pass to the head of the upper house. In 2019, Tokayev assumed the presidency under this procedure after Nursultan Nazarbayev stepped down. The current Senate chairman is Maulen Ashimbayev.
