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Within the walls of the Library of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, a round table meeting “The Institute of Presidency in Kazakhstan: Traditions, Modernity and Perspectives” was held, timed to coincide with the Day of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the evolution of the institution of presidency in Kazakhstan.
In his inaugural speech on November 26 of this year, Head of State Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said: “Our people defended their freedom in the most difficult times. Kazakhstan gained its independence in a relentless struggle for freedom. We must give a fair assessment of the historical figures who made a huge contribution to the creation and strengthening of our sovereign state. Only time and history can provide an evaluation of the successes and failures. Time is the fairest judge; history is the measure of truth. If we want to be a just state, we must evaluate the past objectively and learn from it. This is the rule a forward-looking state must adhere to”.
Recall that the celebration of the Day of the First President began in 2012. The national elections held on December 1, 1991 was the reason for choosing this date. As a result of that elections, N.A. Nazarbayev was elected to the post of President of the Kazakh SSR. Thus, Kazakhstan laid the traditions of the institute of presidency, which played a key role in strengthening the statehood and sovereignty of the Republic of Kazakhstan, as well as in the further productive development of our country. We should note that the institute of presidency acted as the initiator of modernization in the economy, politics and society in the subsequent decades of Independence. It was the conductor of transformations and progressive reforms.
During the round table speeches were made by the statesman and military figure of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Khalyk Kaһarmany of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Yertaev B.Y., Academician and Vice-President of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Shaukenova Z.K., Director of the Institute of Applied Ethnopolitical Research, Candidate of Political Sciences, Kaliyev T.B., Director of the Center for Political Studies of the Institute of Philosophy, Political Science and Religious Studies of the Science Committee of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan Amrebayev A.M., Head of the Department of the Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Studies under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Akhmetzharov S.B., members of the National kurultai under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Ashimbayev D.R. and Shibutov M.M., Deputy Head of the Secretariat of the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan Tulindinova Zh.K., Deputy Chairman of the Board of JSC " M. Narikbayev KAZGUU University" Karbozova A.B., Director of the Center for Contemporary Research "Alternative" Chebotarev A.E., Head of the Department of Political Science of the Faculty of Journalism and Political Science of L.N. Gumilyova ENU, Gabdulina B.A., Head of the Department of Political Analysis of the Institute of Public Policy of the AMANAT Party, Bazarov D.E.
More than 300 representatives of government agencies, research institutions, faculty, doctoral students, graduate students, students of higher educational institutions and history teachers of schools and colleges of the country took part in the event online and offline.
“This year, the Head of State, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, came up with a major constitutional reform aimed at building a New Fair Kazakhstan. The adoption of amendments to the Basic Law of Kazakhstan at a nationwide referendum gave the fresh start of the constitutional reform. The forthcoming reforms are aimed at decentralization of power and the transition from a super-presidential form of government to a presidential republic with an influential parliament and an effective state apparatus. The super-presidential republic, formed in accordance with the Constitution of 1995, undoubtedly played a role in the formation and development of independent Kazakhstan. However, today, the question of adapting the political system to modern realities naturally came up due to the strengthening of democratic institutions and the rise of political culture. The constitutional reform affects the institution of the presidency itself. The amendment to establish a one-time 7-year term of office of the President is consistent with the adopted constitutional amendments on the need for party neutrality of the President of the Republic for the period of exercising his powers. The changes in presidential powers demonstrate the search for an optimal model of the institution of presidency, which would best suit the strategy of building a New Fair Kazakhstan,” said in his speech B. Temirbolat, Director of the Library of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
The public official and military figure of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Khalyk Kaһarmany of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Bakhytzhan Yertayev shared his opinion: “In Kazakhstan, celebration of the Day of the First President began in 2012. The national elections held on December 1, 1991 was the reason for choosing this date. As a result of that elections, N.A. Nazarbayev was elected to the post of President of the Kazakh SSR. Thus, Kazakhstan laid the traditions of the institute of presidency, which played a key role in strengthening the statehood and sovereignty of the Republic of Kazakhstan. We should note that the institute of presidency acted as the initiator of modernization in the economy, politics and society in the subsequent decades of Independence. It was the conductor of transformations and progressive reforms that transformed young Kazakhstan into a strong state. At the same time, time, formation, conditions of development are changing. Society has new demands. Kazakhstan continues to evolve and improve the system of public administration. This year, the Head of State K.K.Tokayev came up with a large-scale of constitutional reform. It led to the renewal of the institutional foundations of statehood as part of the construction of a Fair Kazakhstan.”
“Turning to history, we answer the question of what was the reason for the introduction of the institute of presidency. The rapid democratization and the loss of controllability by the country's leadership led to decentralization and the collapse of management systems and all existing authorities. The former system of Soviet power, based on the Council of People's Deputies and executive committees, turned out to be inoperable, and the power assigned to the Communist Party began to collapse, losing authority. The result was a vacuum that could turn into chaos. Even then, in the autumn of 1989, the post of chairman of the Supreme Council arose - a post that is the first analogue of the future presidency. At the beginning of 1990, it became clear that such a position would not provide all the processes needed in our republic, and in the spring a law regarding the President was adopted. Then the election took place at the session of the Supreme Council, where Nursultan Nazarbayev received an absolute majority of votes. In the early 90s of the last century, there was an attempt to combine the Soviet party power and the new presidential one. As a result, after the adoption of the declaration on state sovereignty, a constitutional reform was carried out, according to which the President began to have the highest administrative and executive power, subordinated the Council of Ministers, and the still young presidential apparatus practically “ate” the powerful old apparatus of the Council of Ministers. This made it possible to create stability in power in the early years. Then there was the question of holding direct presidential elections, which was done on December 1, 1991,” – said Daniyar Ashimbayev, a member of the National Kurultai under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
“Presidential elections are a special event in any country to which the attention of the general public is riveted. Therefore, elections are a reflection of all political trends of a given period. Throughout the history of independent Kazakhstan, seven election campaigns have taken place in the country. In 1991, the presidential elections became part of the process of gaining independence and sovereignty by our country, these elections became a kind of impulse for the development of a further political agenda for the long term. On the example of election campaigns in different years of the thirty-year period, we see the evolution of the institution of presidency. This year's elections were held within the framework of powerful new constitutional reforms proclaimed by the Head of State K.K.Tokayev. Presidential patronage in the structure of state administration has been reduced. Now the President can be elected for only one seven-year term. We should note that the 2022 election campaign was held under the banner of a competition of ideas and values, each candidate introduced his own specific agenda. Today we are at a new stage in the political development of our republic. The Election Program of the Head of State indicates not only new political reforms, but also contains a large layer of economic transformations,” – said Andrey Chebotarev, Director of the Center for Contemporary Research "Alternative".
Marat Shibutov, a public figure, a member of the National Kurultai under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan shared his opinion during the discussions.
“Now the institution of the presidency is entering a new stage. Formal powers, the scope of functions performed by the President, his relationship with other branches of power are changing. Among other things, this is influenced by the environment that makes demands on the President and which he must comply with. It must be understood that in the post-Soviet countries, in the context of the economic, energy and military crisis, the institution of the presidency is becoming very popular, becoming a pivotal one. We must constantly analyze the institution of the presidency not as something static, but something evolutionary, which is substituted for both the internal and external environment. However, we must take into account that the amount of formal powers does not always correspond to the amount of real ones,” – he shared.
