Chairman of the Senate (upper house of parliament) of Kazakhstan Maulen Ashimbayev told reporters on Thursday that he supports the initiative of Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, the head of the republic, to introduce a seven-year presidential term.
"I support the introduction of a seven-year presidential term so that a citizen of our country can be elected president for one term. This will allow our country to develop political competition, and we will make a serious step towards the formation of a balanced competitive democratic political system," Ashimbayev said.
According to him, this provision will further limit the concentration of power in the hands of one person in Kazakhstan. "Seven years is enough time to implement your election program, to fulfill the promises made to the population, to implement some major projects for the country. This norm is part of the political reform program in Kazakhstan. It will allow making one more important step in the direction of demonopolization of the power," the speaker explained.
On September 1, during his address to the nation, Tokayev announced that an early presidential election would be held this fall and early elections to the Majilis and maslikhats (local representative bodies) in the first half of 2023. The head of state also proposed limiting the president's term of office to one seven-year term instead of the current two five-year terms. He stated that he would submit a relevant initiative to parliament for consideration after the elections. The next presidential election was to be held in Kazakhstan in 2024.
The group "Zhana Kazakhstan" formed of deputies of Majilis (the lower chamber of parliament) supported the initiative on election of the president of the republic for a single seven-year term and proposed to amend the basic law of the country to elect the head of state by the new rules already in autumn of 2022.
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Based on materials from TASS