Briefing on the President's State-of-the-Nation Address held in Tehran

On April 10, 2022, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the Islamic Republic of Iran A.Orazbay held a briefing for representatives of the Iranian media.

The briefing was dedicated to explaining to the IRI audience the State-of-the-Nation Address of the president of the Republic of Kazakhstan K.Tokayev "New Kazakhstan: Path of Renewal and Modernization" to the people of Kazakhstan at the joint session of the Parliament on March 16, 2022.

The event was attended by representatives of well-known Iranian media, in particular, journalists of the news agencies "IRNA", "ILNA", "Tasnim", "ISNA" and the website "Ava DIPLOMATIC".

The Ambassador stated that in the Address "the direction of building a new Kazakhstan is based on the need to ensure fair and free political competition.

In addition, the Ambassador highlighted in detail the following key reforms announced in the Address of the president of the Republic of Kazakhstan:

Membership of the president in a political party: the president is legally obliged to terminate his membership in a political party during his term of office.

Authority of the president in local government: the president no longer dismisses the heads of local government bodies.

Parliamentary supervision of appointments: for the appointment of the chairman of the Constitutional Court (newly created) and the chairman of the Supreme Judicial Council, the consent of the Senate of the Parliament is required.

Restrictions on public service: the number of positions that civil servants and political officials can hold simultaneously is limited to avoid excessive concentration of power.

Election and legislative reform: the Lower House of Parliament, the Mazhilis, will be reformed to include a makeup 70-30 ratio of national to regional representatives. Reforms will also be set out to transfer the Central Election Commission to independent professional management, and the lowering of the registration threshold for political parties from 20,000 to 5,000 members. In addition, the Mazhilis will have increased legislative authority.

Law enforcement reforms: a large-scale investigation of allegations of torture and ill-treatment will be conducted with a renewed focus on the rights of citizens in court proceedings and law enforcement issues.

The final abolition of the death penalty to be excluded from the constitution.

Judicial Reforms and the Constitutional Court: there will be a Constitutional Court established to ensure constitutional compliance, with the right to appeal to the Constitutional Court to be granted to the Prosecutor General and Commissioner for Human Rights. The Chair of the Constitutional Court will be appointed by the President with the consent of the Senate of the Parliament.

In addition, key sessions of the Supreme Judicial Council will be broadcast online, and there will be greater transparency of the procedure for selecting judges. There will be the introduction of trial by jury in a wider range of cases.

Civil Society and Civil Rights: the status of the Commissioner for Human Rights will be strengthened at the level of the Constitution and the Constitutional Law, the role of public councils will be strengthened, and the format of their work will be radically renewed.

Freedom of the Press: the Presidential Program of Reforms noted the importance of the media’s role in raising pressing issues. Laws pertaining to mass media will be reviewed accordingly to ensure greater competition in the media.

Media representatives showed genuine interest in the new political program, which is a continuation of the course of further democratization of Kazakhstan.

At the end of the press briefing, the Ambassador answered the questions asked by journalists.