Kazakhstan’s leader vows sweeping reforms, two months after deadly unrest
- Kazakhstan’s president proposes constitutional reforms to limit the powers of his office
- Central Asian nation was roiled by deadly clashes in January that escalated from peaceful protests
Kazakhstan’s president vowed to implement sweeping political reforms and share more powers with a bolstered legislature, two months after his country was rocked by deadly nationwide unrest.
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev told a joint session of the oil-rich former Soviet nation’s parliament on Wednesday that a transition away from its super-presidential system was needed to avoid deepening “stagnation”.
Protests over rising car fuel prices that broke out in the west of the vast Central Asian nation at the start of the year spread within days to dozens of cities and towns. The country had never seen rallies on that scale in its three-decade history.
The initially peaceful demonstrations eventually degenerated into violence that left at least 230 dead.
Tokayev’s proposed changes include easing rules for registering new political parties, allowing for 30 per cent of parliamentary deputies to be elected in single-mandate districts, and scrapping the president’s ability to fire regional officials at will.
Kazakhstan’s authoritarian leaders have made pledges to democratise before, but progress has in the end usually proven negligible.
