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Factsheet on the Extraordinary Congress of the Amanat party

Overview

The Extraordinary Congress of the Amanat party (previously Nur Otan) was held in an online format on 1 March 2022. Yerlan Koshanov, Speaker of the lower chamber of Kazakhstan’s parliament, proposed to rename the Nur Otan party to “Amanat” (which means “the legacy of ancestors, a message to future generations”). The President of Kazakhstan and the Chairman of the party, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, approved this decision.

President Tokayev described Amanat as a centrist party of “common sense, justice, national unity, and steady progress forward, which hears the opinions and aspirations of the people and acts in the name of the interests of our citizens”.

The head of state said that the country had begun the huge task of creating a New Kazakhstan. He called the promotion of the interests of citizens and the openness of the party an “extremely important task”.

Key points from President Tokayev’s statement

On the situation in Ukraine

While the Congress primarily focused on the tasks and priorities of the party and the country, President Tokayev made a statement on the situation in Ukraine.

“Our position should proceed from the critical need to ensure the security, sovereignty and territorial integrity of our state.

As the country that hosted the OSCE summit in 2010, we insist on the principle of the indivisibility of Eurasian security. I stated this during my visit to Moscow on February 10. The principle of indivisibility and common security stipulates mutual understanding based on mutual trust. Unfortunately, this has not happened. The Minsk agreements remained only on paper, which led to the military operations on the territory of Ukraine.

The geopolitical situation has escalated in an unprecedented way, and it is now time to talk about irreversibility of this trend. Therefore, we call on both states to find common ground at the negotiating table, to reach an agreement. There is no other way. A bad peace is better than a good war. Without peace, there will be no development.

Kazakhstan, for its part, is ready to provide all possible assistance, including intermediary services, if, of course, they are required”, the President said.

On sanctions against Russia

President Tokayev informed that he held a series of working meetings with the Security Council and set specific tasks for the Government to ensure sustainable socio-economic development of Kazakhstan in the face of an unprecedented aggravation of the sanctions against Russia.

He said that “our economy must be ready to repel challenges related to the sanctions in order to ensure uninterrupted functioning during this crisis situation.”

Priority tasks of the Amanat party

Several priority tasks were outlined during the Congress, including:

Launch of a nation-wide initiative to gather ideas and proposals from citizens on the formation of the current national agenda.
Decentralisation and an increase in the efficiency of the party apparatus.
Revise the methods of engagement between the central office and the branches of the party. Particularly, bureaucracy and paperwork should be stopped. Regional branches should engage with voters independently.
Enhance the activities of political factions in the Mazhilis and maslikhats (local representative bodies). The parliamentary factions should organise dialogue platforms and achieve visible results based on the outcomes of such platforms.
Shift the focus of public discussions from social networks and city squares to the walls of the Parliament and maslikhats. Utilise parliamentary and public hearings.
The evaluation of the work of the members of the party at all levels should be based on resolving the problems of citizens.
Strengthen the work of the Academy of Political Management.