KEYNOTE ADDRESS by Mr. Kassym-Jomart Tokayev at the second meeting of Kazakhstan’s National Council of Public Trust
Nur-Sultan, Palace of Independence
Dear members of the National Council!
Today, we gathered for the second meeting of the Council.
Since the last meeting, we have carried out a considerable amount of work.
And this effort has seen concrete results.
We immediately started working together for effective and consistent outcomes.
I also instructed the Government to provide full support to the National Council’s activities.
The Presidential Administration is also directly involved in this effort and the Secretariat of the National Council reports to me.
In this regard, I believe there should be no doubt that the Government is committed to supporting a public dialogue and implementing reform.
I have had one-to-one meetings with many of you.
We have carefully considered your proposals and initiatives and have exchanged views on a number of urgent issues.
The members of the National Council have been involved in heated discussions on important issues.
And it is worth mentioning that through those discussions we have reached common ground on a number of issues of concern.
I believe that this work gives a great impetus to strengthening democracy and increasing public confidence in the Government.
Our experience is being praised by international organizations.
Many have seen it as an example of a responsible and constructive dialogue.
Most importantly, the National Council has proved that it can justify the trust of our society.
There is yet another important aspect.
We are shaping the basis of a new political culture through constructive dialogue.
As a result, values such as pluralism and alternative views, constructive stance and responsibility will come to the fore.
We are overcoming the fear of alternative points of view. This Government does not believe that dissent is a destructive and socially dangerous phenomenon.
Thus, my formula of “different opinions one nation” found its direct embodiment in the National Council of Public Trust.
It is not just a slogan or an idea, it is a practical action.
The agenda of the National Council’s first meeting included a wide range of issues.
We have started working on all the proposals and initiatives. We have launched appropriate mechanisms and procedures. This effort continues.
As of today, we have already reached common ground on some very important issues.
Based on consolidated decisions, the first reform package has been prepared. It will be unveiled today at the second meeting of the National Council.
Clear deadlines as well as responsible executives and government agencies have been assigned to implement each of the initiatives put forward by the members of this Council.
At the same time, the discussion revealed a considerable amount of new proposals coming from the members of the National Council, on which serious discussions took place in my Administration and the Government.
I believe that only through such discussions can we come up with an optimally positive result.
In this work, it is important to curtail any opportunity for the lobbying of special interests.
Our paramount task is to develop systemic, long-term and effective measures on current economic and political issues of our country.
I announced the concept of “a state that listens to the voice of the people”. This is a well-known fact.
In our work, we must be guided, first of all, by the needs and requirements of the common people.
No one and nothing is above our people.
The National Council was created primarily as a platform for public dialogue and trust.
We must justify this trust.
Of course, it is impossible to resolve all issues of concern in just a few months.
However, we have made progress on a number of issues and have made swift decisions.
The work is carried out on a systemic basis.
And we should not slow it down.
One of the urgent issues is the land and its effective use.
Recently, during my trip to Akmola Region, I drew attention to the inefficient use of agricultural land.
On this issue, my position is adamant: only those who are able to cultivate the land deserve to be its owner.
However, in practice it is extremely difficult to identify misused land plots. Therefore, given the sensitivity of this issue, we should not rush into hasty decisions.
At the same time, talking about government control over the use of agricultural land, there is an urgent need to introduce up-to-date mechanisms of control based on the latest technologies.
The wider public, including members of the National Council, has voiced the request to introduce monitoring from space in order to identify and withdraw unused and misused land plots.
In October, I signed the Law on Regulation of the Agro-Industrial Complex, which provides for remote monitoring of land use.
A comprehensive legislative framework is the first step. Now, we have to look into the possibility of using satellite images as a basis for terminating land use agreements while minimizing personal contact between the inspected and the inspectors.
At my instruction, the Ministry of Agriculture drafted a respective executive order.
At the same time, this work is being carried out with due account of all the risks, in particular, novelty of the technology, lack of information on the quality of land, relevance of databases, etc.
The Ministry of Agriculture, together with the Ministry of Digital Development, should complete all preparatory work and conduct a pilot project for space monitoring of land use in several regions by 1 May 2020.
In addition, we must take other measures to strengthen control over the rational use of land. I believe that it is necessary to increase the basic tax rates for unused land from 10 to 20 times.
It is also necessary to reduce the period of non-use of agricultural land subject to forced withdrawal from the current two-year period down to one year.
At the same time, it is important to consider effective and expeditious mechanisms for land withdrawal through courts.
Unfortunately, there are various ways of delaying a case when it comes to withdrawal of unused land.
Therefore, no one can use the land, and it remains unused.
The Government should promptly adopt appropriate executive orders and take measures to return the unused land into economic circulation.
There should be no discord on important issues determining the future of our nation.
We can make positive change only through overall consensus between the authorities and society for a joint constructive effort.
Let us not forget about that.
The great Abai said, “Unity is in the unity of mind.”
It means that solidarity and integration open way to common national prosperity.
That is why I urge the patriots of our country and representatives of various public associations to work together.
The next question is the issue of accountability and openness of state agencies.
And, above all, rationality and transparency of budget expenditures.
The supreme agency for supervision of public finances – the Accounts Committee – carries out on a systemic basis a comprehensive and significant effort to identify financial irregularities, inefficient use of budget funds.
However, so far, the results of its work have not been made public.
Therefore, I have decided that starting from next January, the Accounts Committee will begin publishing the main results of its audit activities for state agencies and organizations.
Next, it is necessary to ensure increased efficiency and further optimization of the quasi-public sector.
I have supported the idea of introducing representatives of civil society into the composition of the Boards of Directors of socially significant enterprises of the quasi-public sector.
Based on discussions with the members of the Council, the Government has prepared an executive order regarding the participation of public activists in this work.
They relate to the list of enterprises, the status of public activists, the selection procedure for candidates and so on.
The Government is to carry out all the necessary selection procedures and submit the names of the candidates for approval by 1 March 2020.
In addition to my instruction outlined in my State-of-the-Nation address on the reduction of the number of enterprises in the quasi-public sector, as well as their often overblown personnel, more effort is required to reduce the economic involvement of state enterprises in competitive markets.
This should be implemented through a reduction in the authorized statutory activities of state enterprises.
The Government is already proposing to cut down more than 100 types of activities of state enterprises, or about 30% of the current list.
At the same time, I believe that it is necessary to continue work in this direction, that is, to reduce the list in a significant way, especially in large cities, where the competitive environment is better established. The Government shall submit proposals on this issue by 1 April 2020.
Next, in my speeches containing programs of action, as well as during regional trips, I have spoken about the inadmissibility of discrimination of our citizens by foreign employers. You also raised this question.
That is why, on my instructions, enterprises hiring foreign labor were inspected last month for compliance with labor and migration laws.
This time, 95 companies have been inspected and 930 facts of violations have been revealed.
A significant proportion of violations were regarding performance of activities that did not correspond to work permits, and the discrepancy between the levels of education and the position held by foreign workers.
Based on the analysis of the situation, inspections by respective authorities and taking into account proposals of the Council members, the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection has prepared a number of reforms.
Firstly, the quota for attracting foreign labor for 2020 will be significantly reduced. The reduction will be about 40% – from 49,000 in 2019 to 29,000 in 2020.
Secondly, all enterprises of more than 250 people recruiting more than 30 foreign workers, will be subject to regular inspections.
Now the Ministry of Labor will be able to swiftly respond to any violations, including imbalances in wages, social conditions and so on, not allowing problems to accumulate from year to year.
Thirdly, Rules for hiring foreign labor and Rules for issuing work permits will be revised. Permits for foreign personnel of the 4th category (low qualification jobs) will be cut, and requirements for local content in personnel will become stricter.
In this regard, the Government needs to take further measures to ensure that foreign labor acts in strict accordance with our legislation.
To implement my election platform, a pilot project was launched in the cities of Nur-Sultan and Almaty to introduce the “budget with wide public participation”.
Given the high social significance of this initiative, a similar practice will be introduced in 55 additional administrative units starting from 2020.
In particular, the initiative will be launched in all cities of national status as well as in the capital city and 35 cities of regional status.
To ensure greater involvement of citizens in the drafting of central government agencies’ budgets, the Ministry of Finance established a Working Group with members of the National Council to draft proposals for changing the format of the project “Budget of Citizens”.
Citizens of the country have the right to receive reliable information on the distribution of budget.
A similar principle of transparency should affect all types of financial transactions conducted in the country. We should clearly understand the aggregated picture of external sources of financing and borrowing.
It is also necessary to stop empty speculation about the excessive debt of our country to external creditors.
In this regard, by 1 April 2020, the Ministries of National Economy and Finance and the National Bank should develop the Unified Register of External Debt in the form of a digitized database.
The next issue is the instability of the national currency.
It is high on the agenda of our businesses and citizens.
As per my instruction, the National Bank has developed a transparent exchange rate policy, thereby creating mechanisms to increase public confidence.
From 1 January 2020, the National Bank will have to publicly announce on monthly and quarterly basis all interventions from the National Fund to the currency market.
The exchange schedule will also be published.
Monetary policy strategy will be adopted.
As I promised in my State-of-the-Nation address, micro and small businesses will be exempt from income tax for up to 3 years.
A moratorium on any government inspections will be applied for the same period.
In spite of all measures taken by the Government, the problem of the “grey economy” remains unresolved.
By establishing false companies, numerous methods of money laundering are in use, and there is no end in sight.
We have to admit, we are failing to fight this problem effectively.
Responsible government authorities are often failing to take timely measures.
As a result, innocent businesses suffer.
And the real criminals get off scot-free.
Therefore, it is necessary not only to strengthen the fight against illicit transactions, but also to make a breakthrough in this process.
Members of the Council recommended involving business representatives in this work.
It was suggested that businesses should be equipped with effective tools to assess and verify the integrity of their potential counterparts.
In this regard, the Government with the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs will create an open, integrated database of business entities.
As a result, each entrepreneur will be able to check on their counterparts.
Ranking and classification of enterprises should be based on information from tax, customs and law enforcement agencies.
It will display tax offenses, administrative offenses, and so on.
In case businesses do not find their counterparts in so-called “red zone” of this database, a transaction with this counterpart cannot be subject to criminal investigation by the state before all taxes and fines are properly assessed.
If according to the database, the counterpart is in the “red zone”, and the business still decides to deal with them, they must be wary of all risks involved in such a decision.
And this is what is called proper due diligence.
These initiatives should be accurately reflected in the Tax Code and other relevant legislative acts.
The next step should be the transfer of large financial transactions exclusively in the non-cash monitored payments format.
Today, with the development of banking technology, law-abiding citizens or businesses require only small amounts of cash.
At the same time, the share of the shadow economy in the real estate and auto markets is about 3 trillion tenge. It is necessary to bring this to order.
The Government and the National Bank should prepare a package of legislative amendments to ensure the introduction of non-cash payments in first purchases made in the auto market and real estate market.
Of course, it is necessary within this work to take due account of the needs of our territorial development, especially in rural areas.
Another topical issue for our society is the quality of governmental digital services.
Despite the fact that we have created sophisticated databases, and purchased expensive information systems, we still need paper documents in the first place.
I will give you just one example. One in three of our citizens drives a car, and all drivers have to carry with them an identity card, a driver’s license, a technical passport, a waybill, and all sorts of other documents.
When a person forgets papers at home, we fine them. On such violations alone, about 80,000 people have been fined over the past 11 months.
The Government must resolve this problem in the near future and, if necessary, amend the appropriate legislation.
The issue of introducing targeted social assistance to families with many children remains crucial in the social reform package.
The Government has a clear task to ensure transparent and fair-targeted assistance, especially to children in need, including those from large families. The state should help only those who really need help.
In this regard, we agreed with the initiative of the public and members of the Council to ignore the level of income of the families with many children when providing new formats of social assistance.
Indeed, the rule of accounting for individual income is difficult to administer, involves negative social consequences, (divorces, fictitious dismissals, slaughter of cattle, etc.) and is often subject to corruption.
Support was also given to the initiative to provide children from socially vulnerable groups with a guaranteed social assistance package.
The Government has done a great deal of work, new approaches have been developed. A draft bill has been prepared.
Therefore, families with many children will receive state support regardless of their income, based purely on the number of children in the family.
The new state allowance for families with many children will be set in differentiated amounts, tied to the MCI, from 42.5 to 74 thousand tenge.
In addition, children from low-income families will receive a guaranteed social package.
Preschool children will be provided with food packages and other basic necessities.
School students will receive free hot meals in schools, free daily transfers to and from school, as well as school uniforms and school supplies.
All this is to be done at the expense of the state budget.
Therefore, significant adjustments to the existing mechanism of targeted social assistance will be established.
More attention will be given to new ways of promoting employment, and misappropriation of targeted social assistance will be minimized.
In addition, I believe that social and patronage support for children left without parental care should be enhanced.
Basic requirements for providing state support in education, employment, and housing should be clear and understandable by everyone.
Representatives of business and state companies are involved in solving this problem in East Kazakhstan and Aktobe regions.
This experience should be extended to other regions.
It is also necessary to introduce an effective support system for people with disabilities.
According to the Ministry of labor and social protection of the population, only 25 percent of the 106,000 people with disabilities are employed.
Employers must set up special quotas for recruiting people with disabilities. I am instructing the Government to monitor the progress in this effort.
In case of non-fulfillment, we should consider proper fines.
Centers of employment and social rehabilitation should operate in all regions.
Currently, there are no such centers in Akmola, Aktobe, Almaty and West Kazakhstan regions and in the cities of Nur-Sultan and Shymkent.
This is a big problem, so I instruct you to open such centers by all possible means.
This work can be done through public-private partnerships.
I also propose to consider providing rehabilitation assistance to working people with disabilities at the expense of the State Social Insurance Fund.
Another important point is the modernization of the pension system.
Disputes about employers paying mandatory 5% of pension contributions do not cease.
It is expected to start on 1 January 2020, but still there is no common ground.
Therefore, the introduction of mandatory pension contributions by employers has been postponed (until 2023).
I will not dwell on this in detail.
This issue, like many other proposals of the members of the National Council in the socio-economic sphere, is already being implemented in the context of my State-of-the-Nation address.
I would also like to speak on the issue of switching to the Latin alphabet. Moreover, this issue was raised at a meeting of the National Council.
There must be no rush in this matter. It is required to carefully, thoroughly, comprehensively analyze and work out all aspects of introducing the new alphabet.
The proposed three versions of the Latin alphabet turned out to be imperfect. Therefore, we need a truly scientific approach to this problem, which cannot be taken lightly.
We are not talking about simply translating the Cyrillic alphabet into the Latin alphabet, we need a reform of the Kazakh language, for its modernization.
We are waiting for the authoritative opinion of our scientists. Once again, I confirm that we are reforming the Kazakh language.
In such a fateful issue for the nation, campaigning and oversimplification are unacceptable!
Specific work is being done on issues raised during my one-on-one meetings with Council members.
In most cases, initiatives were supported by decisions and all of them are taken under the control of the National Council Secretariat.
Apart from social work, the issues of reforming and modernizing the political system are also of great public interest.
We are interested in a constructive dialogue on this issue.
In this regard, in addition to the proposals of the members of the National Council, we have come up with new initiatives from the Government.
We hope that we will reach common ground by discussing all the initiatives.
Above all, reforms should be a step towards sustainable development, not a panic mode.
Along with the most important issues of improving the quality of life of Kazakh citizens and strengthening social policy, we are taking a serious step in the area of reforming the current political system.
Some experts expressed the view that this issue, they say, will go by the wayside.
But we have shown the will to achieve concrete results in this extremely sensitive area.
The first package of political initiatives was enhanced at the initiative of the state.
Thus, no one should have doubts about the need for political modernization, which I spoke about in my State-of-the-Nation address.
Moreover, the reforms should, of course, contribute to the stable development of our country, and not bring about shocks.
We must strengthen the creative basis of the political process so that pluralism becomes an important element in enhancing economic well-being and human capital.
Therefore, it is very important to find the most reasonable path, so-called “golden means”, which will ensure the progressive development of our nation. This, after all, is the demand of our society.
Based on this, the first package of political initiatives has been worked out. It consists of the following measures.
Firstly, we should introduce the notification principle of organizing public rallies, which is consistent with our Constitution.
All public protest is permitted if it does not violate the law and public order and does not interfere with the peace of citizens.
This is my principled position.
You know about my position and we will enforce it legislatively.
Time has come to instill in the public consciousness a proper culture of protest. It is time for both society and the state to adequately treat the public expression of political position. This is inevitable, and we should better come to it independently, consciously, and not forcedly.
But one must understand that rallies are not only a right but also a responsibility.
In my Address in September, I already emphasized the need to improve legislation on freedom of assembly.
Today, at the meeting of the National Council, I would like to confirm that as part of the implementation of the Presidential Address, a draft law on freedom of peaceful assemblies has been developed.
It will clearly define all forms of peaceful assembly, establish the authority of Maslikhats to determine designated areas, as well as concepts such as the status of organizers, participants and observers, their rights and obligations.
It is not just about changes to the current law, but about a conceptually new legislation that regulates the organization and conduct of all forms of peaceful assembly.
The Government should submit this draft law to Parliament.
Secondly, the reduction of registration requirements for creation of new political parties.
Today, in order to create a new political party, one should have no less than 40,000 members.
This norm has existed for a long time and used to meet the requirements of the past.
Now, in the new political environment, on the one hand, it is necessary to respond to the needs of our citizens, and on the other hand – it is necessary to manage possible risks.
Our social development has reached the level of transitioning to a qualitatively new stage of party building.
So, I propose to reduce by two times the number of party members required for registration, i.e. to 20,000 members. This is a very important change.
This allows for increased civic engagement. In general, we must gradually change all laws related to political parties and elections.
Third, a mandatory 30% quota for women and young people should be included in the electoral party lists.
We must encourage the active participation of women in politics, especially in the legislative process.
In the same way, we should encourage young people to join Parliament and local representative bodies, as Elbasy convincingly said at his recent meeting with activists of the Nur Otan party.
They are ready to participate more actively in social and political processes. We need to enhance not only social mobility of our youth but also their political mobility, in order to pass the torch of independence to new generations of patriots
This rule will oblige all political parties to work more actively with different social groups and take their interests into account.
Fourth, we need to establish the institution of parliamentary opposition.
We need to understand the main condition for a new social paradigm – the presence of alternative views and opinions.
In past years, there were active citizens taking part in tackling a wide range of social and economic problems.
We understood that alternative opinions and public debate do not lead to stagnation, but, on the contrary, are part of key pre-requisites for development.
Therefore, it is necessary to legislate the basis for a political minority in Parliament.
To do this, it is necessary to support the law On Parliament with legislative acts guaranteeing the existence of a political minority.
For example, it is necessary to create conditions for representatives of opposition parties to chair some of the committees in Parliament.
This will provide for systemic account of alternative agendas in the legislative branch of power.
On all these initiatives, the Government, together with the Presidential Administration, will have to prepare and submit respective proposals and draft bills to the Parliament.
It is also time to act on issues that have been repeatedly raised by our human rights activists.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs must kick-start the process of joining the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
We have also managed to reach a reasonable compromise on article 174 of the Criminal Code.
The initiative is to humanize this article – to make changes to the existing text and re-draft it in a proper way.
For example, abandon the term “arousal” and use instead the more precise legal concept of “incitement”.
Such a text would clearly record a fairer application of the article and remove the main problems with it.
In addition, we have prepared a special draft bill aimed at easing financial restrictions on persons who have served a criminal sentence under this article and have received a positive assessment of law enforcement agencies.
In particular, there are provisions to exclude these persons from the list limiting the rights for disposal of finances and property.
In addition, it is proposed to allow them to receive a minimum monthly wage calculated for each family member and allow them to open and maintain bank accounts without restriction.
Another important issue, which has long been discussed and causes heated discussions in the society, is article 130 of the Criminal Code – on libel.
At the first meeting of the National Council, this issue was also raised. It was proposed to decriminalize this article.
However, it turned out that there are serious counter-arguments.
Some social activists, even human rights activists advocate the preservation of this norm in the Criminal Code, as it has a lot to do with protecting human rights, preserving honor and dignity.
In turn, a number of state agencies proposed to amend only the first part of article 130.
I would like to note that only on the issue of amending article 130 of the Criminal code, several working discussions have been organized with the participation of members of the National Council and representatives of state agencies. The latest discussion was held right before our meeting today.
The debate on this matter exemplifies how difficult it is to find a compromise solution on sensitive issues. It is necessary to take into account all aspects – legal, humanitarian, ethical and international standards.
Based on the analysis of all positions and nuances of this issue, I decided to decriminalize article 130 of the Criminal Code and transfer it into the Administrative Code.
At the same time, it is necessary to maintain a high degree of responsibility in order to guarantee the rights of our citizens and protect them from slanderous fabrications and libel attacks.
Dear participants of the meeting!
Democracy is a huge responsibility for both government and citizens.
Democracy should serve the purpose of development and creation, not disunity and disintegration.
We know that there is a demand for further political transformations in our society.
In our work, we will act based on highest development goals. Populism should have no place here.
The National Council of Public Trust should be aware of its responsibility to the people and meet the expectations of the nation.
We must understand that reforms will not be carried out just for the sake of reforms.
We must think carefully about new initiatives and achieve concrete results. This is very important.
The main goal of the reforms is not to deviate from our direction of development but to give it a new impetus.
Kazakhstan’s patriotism is a manifestation of common interests, common destiny, willingness to work and create for the prosperity of our country.
Kazakhs are tasked with a historical mission – to show by our own example that it is possible and necessary to overcome any obstacle through a constructive dialogue between government and people.
We must shape the agenda in the interests of the absolute majority of citizens.
We are strong in our unity.
At the same time, unity is based on diversity of opinion. There is a well-known slogan of the United Nations – “Unity in diversity”. This concept is very relevant to our country.
The authorities are ready to make any positive change that may support the development and future of our nation.
The National Council has an important role to play in this work.
As you can see, here we openly discuss the most important, complex issues relating to the fate of our nation and our land.
The issues raised at the meeting are very important for our society.
All this testifies to the increased level of political and legal culture of our people.
But it’s not just about politics.
Much depends on simple values that are cherished by our people, in the family, in everyday life.
Frankly speaking, today people are tired of the world full of aggression and conflict.
Therefore, we must spread good intentions and good actions.
We should be kind, benevolent and principled – this is the driving force of sustainable development and spiritual revival.
Thus, we will be able to build a just society and a civilized state.
I am confident that all our goals will be achieved through unity and harmony.
I wish you every success in your work.
Thank you.