Sultanov B.K. Kazakhstan Today

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the provisions of this programme. The present stage aims at the post-

crisis development of the economy with high rates of development

of oil and gas ﬁ elds as the basis of reviving the oil and gas sector and

increasing budget revenue. The rapid development of the oil and gas

sector brought Kazakhstan out of the economic crisis in the 1990s.

Since 2000 Kazakhstan has been ﬁ rmly moving along a path of

intensive economic development that coincided with the second stage

of the Kazakhstan-2030 Strategy.

The second stage was intended to be carried out between 2001

and 2010. This phase organically continues the previous policy based

on high economic growth rates, macroeconomic stability and the

creation of conditions for a switch to sustainable economic growth

model.

Generally, since the beginning of the strategy, Kazakhstan’s GDP

has increased ﬁ ve-fold, and its foreign exchange and gold reserves

now exceed $40bn. We can say that Kazakhstan is now, despite the

consequences of the global economic crisis, ready and able to make

a new qualitative breakthrough in its economic development: “We

have all the necessary resources and experience to withstand the global

crisis… We will overcome all the difﬁ culties and make our Kazakhstan

a strong, prosperous and respected state in the world.” [9]

4. The health, education and wellbeing

of all of Kazakhstan’s people

The issue of the social wellbeing of Kazakhs has always been a

priority for state policy. Kazakhstan has adopted a comprehensive

approach to their solution, envisaging increasing not only the living

standards of the population but also developing human capital and

improving the quality of life.

In the healthcare sphere the priorities of the state policy are to

improve the quality of medical services offered to the population and

assist the healthy lifestyle of citizens. This means that emphasis is

placed not on the treatment of diseases but their prevention.

These priorities are being implemented as part of the programme

of reforming and developing the healthcare sphere in Kazakhstan in

2005-2010, which aims to build an efﬁ cient system of medical services

that meets the modern needs of the population.

The programme has already produced good results. For example,

Kazakhstan has managed to considerably improve medical services

for the population, medical and demographic indicators of births,

deaths, natural population growth and stabilise the maternal and

infant mortality, and decrease the occurrences of diseases caused by

poor living conditions. The Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan On

the Health of the People and the Healthcare System has been drafted

and submitted for the Mazhilis’s consideration.

Since Kazakhstan aims to build a knowledge-based economy, the

government is paying particular attention to the education sphere.

Reforms have been conducted in secondary and higher education to

ensure access to education for all the citizens of the country, especially

young people, and international standards are being adopted.

Funding for the education sphere has constantly been increased,

teachers’ salaries have also been increased and school infrastructure

has been improved. By 2008 public spending on education had in-

creased by 6.4 times between 2000 and 2008 and it will have grown

by almost 10 times by 2011.

Kazakhstan was the ﬁ rst country in the CIS to computerise its

schools. A new mechanism of enrolling students through comprehen-

sive university entrance tests has been adopted. A multilevel system of

training specialists which meets international standard classiﬁ cations

of specialities has been introduced. A market of education services

based on the mechanism of the multi-channel funding of universities

has emerged.

Special focus has been placed on the social protection of the

population. Government spending on social security and assistance

totalled 566.5 billion tenge in 2008, up by 22.5% from 2007.

Growing funding for social programmes has made it possible

to increase social allowances for all categories of recipients. For

example, the minimum pension paid under the solidarity system is

12,700 tenge, the average pension is 18,400 tenge and the maximum

pension is 26,700 tenge. The average size of pension has almost

doubled in the past ﬁ ve years.

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The central budget makes timely monthly social payments to 4.3

million people, or about a third of the country’s population. In ad-

dition, local authorities allocated 1.1 billion tenge for target social

support; 1.7 billion tenge for child allowances and 3.6 billion tenge

for housing support.

5. The efﬁ cient use and development of energy resources

It is no exaggeration to say that the main locomotive that has the

pulled other sectors of Kazakhstan’s economy is the oil and gas sector.

That is why the development of energy resources was singled out by

the president as one of the strategy’s long-term priorities.

Moreover, the growing Kazakh economy is demanding more

spending on energy, and so Kazakhstan needs to adopt energy-sav-

ing technologies and develop alternative and traditional sources of

energy. In order to achieve this aim the Law On Energy-Saving was

adopted on 25 December 1997 which, along with the industrial and

innovation development strategy, gave rise to the process of inten-

sive development of energy-saving technologies and of alternative

sources of energy.

The further development of our energy potential has necessitated

the solution of a number of important problems, the principle of

which is to ensure the outstripping development of deep reﬁ ning and

quick entry for products with high added value to the international

market.

Aside from this, the key aspect of the work on energy potential is

to diversify and ensure stable energy routes to global markets. Ka-

zakhstan bears and realises its signiﬁ cant responsibility to maintain

an energy balance and security on the global scale.

6. The development of infrastructure,

particularly transport and telecommunications

Kazakhstan’s favourable location between the developed countries

of East and West and the lack of access to open sea requires the devel-

opment of transit transport corridors. The main objective in this sphere

is to create a rational transport network integrated into the international

transport system that ensures access to global markets.

To this end Kazakhstan has adopted the Blueprint to Develop

International Transport Corridors and the Transport Strategy until

2015, which envisages running 80 investment projects worth about

$30bn from different sources of funding.

The building of transport corridors with relevant infrastructure,

mainly telecommunications, is playing a signiﬁ cant role in the devel-

opment of Kazakhstan’s transit transport potential. Fibre optic lines

have been built along the North-South and East-West transport cor-

ridors. Kazakhstan plans to build a national information superhighway

which will become the shortest telecommunications bridge between

Europe and China, Japan and Asia-Paciﬁ c.

In addition, as part of the strategy the country is carrying out

comprehensive work to develop the telecoms sector. At the end of

2005, the KazSat telecommunications and broadcasting satellite was

launched. The satellite has become a good basis for the development

of broadcasting systems and ﬁ xed satellite services in Kazakhstan.

The number of Internet users in Kazakhstan has exceeded 2 million

people and is expected to increase to 3.5 million people in 2010. The

wide use of the Internet in schools makes it possible to use innovative,

above all interactive, methods of teaching.

7. The formation of professional government

One of the long-term priorities of government building in Kazakh-

stan is, undoubtedly, to improve the efﬁ ciency of the government

system and build a professional government.

This aim demanded the reformation of the civil service and the

principles of its work and the creation of a body of professional civil

servants.

During the entire period that the Kazakhstan-2030 Strategy has

been being implemented a lot has been achieved. For example, the

Law On the Civil Service, adopted on 23 July 1999, laid the foun-

dations to optimise and improve the quality of government. Other

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84 85

steps in this direction were the creation of the Agency for the Civil

Service in September 1998, the adoption of the Rules for Re-train-

ing and Improving Qualiﬁ cations of Civil Servants (on 11 October

2004) and the adoption of a testing system for applicants for jobs in

the civil service.

All these acts created a mechanism to increase transparency in the

stafﬁ ng of government agencies and increase the professional skills

of civil servants.

The legislative basis of this process has been laid in the Laws

On the Civil Service, On Fighting Corruption, On Administrative

Procedures, as well as the Code of Honour of Civil Servants that

was adopted.

The 2007 constitutional reform increased the local government

capabilities: local legislative bodies were given powers of local

self-government. International organisations and experts admit that

Kazakhstan has brought its legislation and procedures in the civil

service signiﬁ cantly in line with modern international standards.

2.3. The 2007 Constitutional Reform

The need for political reforms ﬁ rst emerged in the second half of

the 1990s. The events of autumn 2001 showed that the need to further

democratise the political system was increasing and was acquiring a

more shaped and systematic nature.

In other words, it was clearly seen that the pace of political

reforms was far behind that of economic reforms. The country and

the government faced the problem of ﬁ nding a formula for stabil-

ity, which, in turn, demanded the creation of a mechanism for the

coordination of the interests of major socio-political and social

groups.

Kazakhstan had to make a choice.

The ﬁ rst scenario meant the preservation of the political situation

as it was, i.e. freezing the process of political modernisation, and

using government structures to ensure stability.

The second scenario required that Kazakhstan undergo a stage of

political liberalisation and gradually switch to the classic model of

democracy with a balance between branches of power, a function-

ing civil society, citizens’ involvement in political decision-making

and other attributes. For the country’s sustainable development, the

authorities, to their credit, opted for the second scenario.

It was for this reason that various platforms for dialogue were

created in the country: ﬁ rst, the permanent conference on drafting

proposals on further democratisation and the development of civil

society, and later the national commission for democratisation and

the development of civil society.

A presidential decree, issued on 20 March 2006, set up a state

commission to draft and specify a programme of democratic reforms.

The state commission faced a complex task: to draft a strategy for

political reforms that would make liberal democratic transformations

in the country systematic and irreversible and ﬁ nd a compromise on

the vision of the country’s future development.

In addition, it was necessary to identify the main problems that

hindered political modernisation and ﬁ nd solutions to these. The

commission completed its work on 19 March 2007.

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New constitutional amendments, based on the results of this

commission’s work and recommended by the head of state, passed

by parliament in spring 2007 opened wide opportunities to boost the

entire political process in Kazakhstan. New ideas touched various

aspects of political life.

On the one hand, this was in practical terms a fundamental reforma-

tion of the existing political model, resulting in signiﬁ cant expansion

of the powers of the legislative branch, a new conﬁ guration of the

party sphere, the development of real civil society and the non-gov-

ernmental sector, all of which would ensure the direct involvement

of wide-ranging groups of the population in political processes.

On the other hand, these changes laid the foundation for better

coordinated operation of the government system because all cen-

tral bodies of power will now be mutually dependent and mutually

supplemented. In addition, the most vivid characteristic of the new

political system will be the strengthening of the mechanism of checks

and balances in relations between the branches of power.

By involving parliament in the processes of choosing, agreeing

and ﬁ nally endorsing a candidate for prime minister, the president

signiﬁ cantly strengthened powers of lawmakers and gave them the

right to get involved in the formation of the executive branch. As a

result, the whole cycle of endorsing a candidate for prime minister will

be at an equal distance from the main centres of power mechanisms

because the right of the ﬁ nal vote will be exercised by the political

parties represented in the Mazhilis. This means that the responsibility

for appointing a prime minister will be equally distributed between

the president and the legislative branch.

In turn, the members of parliament represent various regional

interests, the interests of different strata of Kazakh society and the

main political and ideological forces of society. Generally, the wide

spectre of political forces, as the architects of the constitutional re-

form intended, which will be presented in parliament, is an important

condition for the national dialogue that is needed for Kazakhstan’s

sustainable development.

The new functions and powers of parliament include both cham-

bers’ right to take part in the formation of the Constitutional Council,

the Audit Committee and the Central Election Commission. These

functions will enable Kazakh society to get involved in the election

process and the process of adopting the country’s budget, deﬁ ne de-

velopment priorities and will serve as an impetus to expand access

to information, discussion and public argumentation of its vision on

the development of the political, economic and social spheres of the

country’s life.

Prior to these amendments the development of political institu-

tions in Kazakhstan was largely according to a trajectory set by the

executive branch, but now with parliamentary involved in appoint-

ing the Constitutional Council, the Audit Committee and the Central

Election Commission, politically and socially active groups of the

population involved in political parties will have a direct impact on

the functioning of power.

The lawmakers, party factions and parliamentary groups will

become the main players of the election process as the new powers

of political parties (which, in line with the new amendments, will

be elected to the lower chamber of parliament by a proportional

system, i.e. on party tickets, and the number of MPs was increased

by 30 people, including nine to be appointed by the Assembly of

Kazakhstan’s People) signiﬁ cantly increase the public’s access to

representation in branches of power in our country.

Another breakthrough aspect in the development of constitutional-

ism was the abolition of the ban on public funding of political parties,

NGOs and public associations.

What is the point of this step? The constitutional provision for

funding the entire range of political forces will legalise their activities,

increase the efﬁ ciency of dialogue and cooperation with the govern-

ment, ensure wider social representation in parliament and strengthen

relations between government bodies and society on the most crucial

issues of everyday life. Moreover, public funding will boost the

population’s civil activity and improve civic-consciousness.

Particular attention should be placed on the state’s funding of

political parties on the legislative basis. Public funding seems to have

become the necessity of the time. On the one hand, this signiﬁ cantly

narrows the ﬁ eld for hidden lobbying of interests of various groups

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Chapter 2. Domestic Policy

88 89

within the country and practically abolishes the practice of funding

from aid, because in the legal ﬁ eld political players, as a rule, will

aim to act within the country’s legislation.

On the other hand, there will be no grounds to accuse the state

of directly supporting certain parties in during election campaigns

because the state will offer support to all legally existing and promote

their platforms when they achieve recognition by the electorate.

The Mazhilis’s increased control over the work of the government

following the constitutional amendments will prompt the govern-

ment to raise the quality of its current and future work and make the

principle of competitiveness an obligatory condition for the executive

branch. The Mazhilis will be capable of raising a vote of no conﬁ dence

in any member of government according to the principle of a simple

majority, which will signiﬁ cantly increase the degree of responsibility

of the executive branch.

Moreover, the government will not be able to rely only on its

administrative powers because of a new provision which enables

parliament to judge the government’s work based on the report on

the fulﬁ lment of the central budget. The failure to endorse the report

will also mean a vote of no conﬁ dence in the government.

In other words, the government’s activities will largely be coor-

dinated with parliament, making them not just transparent but also

grounded. This is precisely what is described as the mechanism of

checks and balances in action.

Along with powers, the responsibility of the MPs also grows. The

provision of the absence of the imperative mandate of deputies was

excluded from the constitution which should strengthen intra-party

discipline and order and help parties develop as participants of the

political processes and boost party factions and groups of deputies.

At the same time, the experience in some developed countries shows

that party factions are the main centres of intra-party discussions and

debates, increasing the efﬁ ciency of the work of parties.

These changes could also be described as progressive because they

have laid a new system of relations between MPs and their voters

through the party political system. This means that a party member

who becomes a deputy cannot discredit the work of their party in

parliament or contradict it or themselves and cannot manipulate the

will of voters who elect them as representatives and defenders of

their interests.

Cutting the presidential term from seven to ﬁ ve years after 2012

and limiting the number of consecutive terms to two is the most

important part of the constitutional amendments. Even though some

researchers found that this amendment violated the rights of Kazakh

voters and negated the very principle of democracy when the elec-

tion of the head of state is dependent on time limits set by the terms

of ofﬁ ce, generally this state of affairs is the most preferable and

acceptable in the present reality in Kazakhstan.

Increasing the number of senators appointed by the president by

eight (taking into account the necessity to present ethnic and cultural

and other important interests of society in the Senate) will improve

the positive perception of parliament’s upper chamber by society

because in Kazakhstan the image of a politician depends on their

recognisability, reputation and socio-political activity in the percep-

tion of the conservative majority.

Powers assigned to the Senate, such as its consent to the appoint-

ment of prosecutor-general, chairman of the National Security Com-

mittee, chairman of the National Bank and its powers to adopt laws

when the Mazhilis is dissolved, are a very strong argument in favour

of boosting the activities of the upper chamber.

The Senate is in essence turning into a balancing component in the

activities of the Mazhilis within the legislative branch in usual condi-

tions and the main centre of power in force-majeure circumstances

and situations, i.e. the backbone factor of stability and sustainability

of the presidential-parliamentary form of government.

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Chapter 2. Domestic Policy

90 91

2.4. The Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan

The history of Kazakhstan’s parliamentarianism begins in March

1990, when the election to the Supreme Soviet of the Kazakh SSR of

the 12

convocation was held. This was the ﬁ rst democratic election

to the country’s highest legislative body when the Soviet administra-

tive-planning system was still strong. Over 2,000 candidates contested

360 seats in parliament.

The peculiarity of this election was that 90 people were elected

from republican public organisations. Even though this election

was held in the absence of fully-ﬂ edged political parties, it made

the transformation of the totalitarian system irreversible.

From 1990 the political system changed signiﬁ cantly in Kazakh-

stan. Public and political movements exerted pressure on political

institutions, mainly on the power structures of the Communist Party

of Kazakhstan, blaming it for the economic crisis and failures in eco-

nomic reforms. Moreover, discord emerged among the Communists

and calls were made for reforming the party.

New parties and movements then emerged – Azat, Zheltoksan,

Alash, Unity, the Social Democratic Party and others.

The changing political situation set its demands – after the

declaration of independence the country badly needed to develop

the new legal basics of its statehood. That is why the ﬁ rst laws

to be drafted were the Laws On the Establishment of the Post

of President, On the Election of President of the Republic, the

Declaration on State Sovereignty; the new name of the state was

adopted and the citizenship of the Republic of Kazakhstan was

established; new state symbols: the national emblem, the national

ﬂ ag and the national anthem were adopted; the legislative basis

for the formation of the armed forces and the law-enforcement

agencies of the state was created.

Taking the new conditions into account, the new constitution

was drafted and adopted by the ninth session of the Supreme Soviet

of the Republic of Kazakhstan of the 12

convocation on 28 Janu-

ary 1993. This became the beginning of a switch to a qualitatively

new stage of ensuring national independence and real guarantees

of civil rights and liberties and the practical implementation of

the promising ideas of building a democratic society and lawful

state.

However, the new possibilities opened up and the growing eco-

nomic crisis diverted the people’s attention from politics. The further

implementation of reforms and the deteriorating socioeconomic situ-

ation showed the inefﬁ ciency of central bodies of power, above all,

in the legislative branch represented by the obsolete Soviets, which

failed to react quickly to the rapidly changing events and adopt ap-

propriate measures.

The results of the work of certain bodies of the Supreme Soviet

of the 12

convocation that were functioning on the permanent basis

also conﬁ rmed the idea of creating a professional parliament, which

would work in one pattern with the government.

It was in these conditions that the country’s leaders chose to cre-

ate an orderly state structure based on the principle of a division of

branches of power functioning on a permanent basis with a clear

distribution of rights, duties and responsibilities between all of its

players. This resulted in the adoption of the Law On the Voluntary

Dissolution of the Supreme Soviet of the Republic of Kazakhstan on

10 December 1993.

The next election to the Supreme Soviet of the 13

convocation

was held on 7 March 1994, and it helped the development of a multi-

party system in Kazakhstan. A total of 73.84% of voters took part

in the election, and out of 910 candidates 692 met the registration

requirements and contested 135 parliamentary seats in single-seat

constituencies, with an average of ﬁ ve candidates standing in each

constituency.

The Union of People’s Unity of Kazakhstan, the People’s

Congress Party, the Socialist Party and the Federation of Trade

Unions set up their party factions and a further 14 groups of

deputies were set up based on their members’ occupations. Parlia-

mentary opposition very quickly emerged in the Supreme Soviet

of the 13

convocation and it was led by the Progress group of

deputies, which proposed a package of reforms titled the New

Economic Policy.

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Chapter 2. Domestic Policy

92 93

For the ﬁ rst time in Kazakhstan’s history political parties and

movements gained access to the real levers of power and the pos-

sibility of inﬂ uencing government policies.

The new Supreme Soviet, elected in March 1994, was more

professional and started its work by hearing many urgent laws.

However, the imperfection of the Code On Elections, the continuing

debate about many provisions of the constitution, the sluggishness

of the Supreme Soviet in adopting necessary market laws created a

deadlock in the political and economic sphere. It was precisely this

reason that Kazakhstan’s national currency, the tenge, collapsed at

the beginning of 1994.

The events that took place in March 1995 had considerable inﬂ u-

ence on the political situation in the country.

On 6 March 1995 the Constitutional Court of the Republic of

Kazakhstan issued a ruling on a lawsuit brought by the former parlia-

mentary candidate, Tatyana Kvyatkovskaya, who cast doubts on the

constitutionality of certain actions in the organising and holding of

the election to the Supreme Soviet. By this ruling the Constitutional

Court found the March 1994 parliamentary election and the powers

of deputies illegitimate.

As a result, in line with the Constitutional Court’s ruling, the

Supreme Soviet ceased to exist. The ruling stated: “not only did the

methodology of the vote count, adopted by the Central Election Com-

mission, lead to widespread violations of the constitutional principle

of ‘one voter – one vote’, but it also distorted the election results, and,

in essence, changed the election system established by the Code On

Elections. By this the Central Election Commission violated Article

60 of the constitution, exceeding its powers.” [10]

Thus, the second composition of the Supreme Soviet was found il-

legitimate and the unconstitutionality of parliament’s powers meant the

unconstitutionality of the government’s powers. As a consequence, as

well as the members of the Supreme Soviet, government members had

to resign. The parliamentary crisis grew into a constitutional one.

In this situation the entire responsibility for the future develop-

ment of Kazakhstan fell onto President Nursultan Nazarbayev. In

that period his work was more intense than it had ever been. In the

absence of parliament the head of state signed 511 decrees, includ-

ing 132 that had the force of law, to revive the economy through

the creation of a new and sufﬁ cient legislative basis. He went on

to issue laws that were vital to continue the reforms – the Laws

On Land, On Oil, On the National Bank, On the Parliament of the

Republic of Kazakhstan and the Status of Its Deputies, On Excises,

On Bankruptcy and so on [11].

Two years later in December 1995 the ﬁ rst bicameral Parliament of

the Republic of Kazakhstan was established: the election of members

of the Senate, parliament’s upper chamber, was held on 5 December,

and the election of members of the Mazhilis, the lower chamber, was

held on 9 December.

In accordance with the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakh-

stan, adopted by a referendum on 30 August 1995, the Parliament of

the Republic of Kazakhstan is the supreme legislative body of the

country.

The Law On Elections in the Republic of Kazakhstan set different

procedures for the election of members of the Senate and members

of the Mazhilis. Senators were elected by regional legislatures (two

senators from each region) with a two-year cycle of election of half

of the senators, while members of the Mazhilis were elected in a

direct election in single-seat constituencies for four years. According

to the Law On the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the

Status of Its Deputies, 15 deputies of the Senate are appointed by the

country’s president with account of the need to ensure the representa-

tion of national cultural and other signiﬁ cant interests of society in the

Senate and nine deputies of the Mazhilis are elected by the Assembly

of Kazakhstan’s People.

According to the architects of the constitutional reform, the Senate

was appointed to represent the interests of regions and limit excessive

radicalism by the Mazhilis, while regions received the opportunity

of comprehensive discussion and weighted decision of their main

problems through the senators. This has, to some extent, integrated

the lawmaking initiatives of each region of the country.

In addition, the election of half of the senators every two years

makes the parliamentary system very ﬂ exible, because the relatively

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Chapter 2. Domestic Policy

94 95

frequent election changes the social composition of the upper chamber

in line with social and political changes in Kazakh society.

At the same time, the other half of senators ensures the continuity

and efﬁ ciency of the upper chamber.

The term for senators is six years, while the term for members of

the Mazhilis is ﬁ ve years. Members of parliament take an oath before

the people of Kazakhstan.

2.5. The Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan

The government is the highest body of the executive branch. It tops

the system of executive bodies, which includes ministries, agencies,

committees and local executive bodies – regional, district and town

administrations or akimats.

The president, with parliamentary approval, appoints and dismisses

the prime minister; on the prime minister’s suggestion deﬁ nes the

structure of the government and appoints and dismisses members

of government; forms, abolishes and reorganises central executive

bodies; and accepts an oath by members of government.

The government drafts the main aspects of the state’s socioeco-

nomic policies, its defence capability, security, public order; presents

a central budget to parliament and reports on its implementation;

submits draft laws to the Mazhilis and ensures the observation of

laws; manages the state property; and drafts foreign policy.

The prime minister forms and heads the government and bears

responsibility for its work; reports to the president about the main

aspects of the government’s work; and signs resolutions.

Members of government independently take decisions within their

powers. They are responsible before the prime minister for the work

of bodies they run.

Each chamber of parliament has powers to discuss reports by

government members on the issues of their activities. In case of a

government member failing to observe laws, deputies can propose

the president dismiss that government member.

The government within its powers adopts resolutions which have

compulsory force throughout the country. The newly-formed govern-

ment drafts a plan of action and presents a report on it to parliament. If

parliament rejects the government’s programme, it should resubmit the

programme within two months. If parliament rejects the programme

again by two-thirds of the vote, this means a vote of no conﬁ dence

in the government.

The government has powers to make lawmaking initiatives. The

government composes a plan of lawmaking work under which it

submits draft laws to parliament’s Mazhilis. Ministries and state com-

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Chapter 2. Domestic Policy

96 97

mittees take part in drafting laws and their heads bear responsibility

for their quality.

The government fulﬁ ls orders by the president on submitting laws

to the Mazhilis. The government also implements external functions.

It takes decisions on the implementation of international agreements

and carries out measures to develop foreign relations in the trade,

ﬁ nancial, education, science and other spheres.

The Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan acts within the

term of powers of the president and resigns before the election of a

new president.

The work of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan is

coordinated by the Ofﬁ ce of the Prime Minister, which is a govern-

ment body which supervises the activities of ministries and agencies

of Kazakhstan.

The main tasks of the Ofﬁ ce of the Prime Minister are: the in-

formation and analytical, organisational and legal and paperwork

provision of the activities of the prime minister and the Government

of the Republic of Kazakhstan; the pursuit of a single state policy in

the sphere of protecting state secrets and coordination of the activities

of government bodies and organisations to protect state secrets and

ensure information security. The Ofﬁ ce of the Prime Minister also

coordinates the work of government bodies in the process of drafting

and implementing acts by the government and prime minister and

monitors the deadlines of implementing acts and orders issued to the

government by the head of state, resolutions by the government and

prime minister and instructions by the prime minister.

The Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan includes 17

ministries.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan

(MFA) is the central body that performs foreign political activities

and heads the single system of diplomatic service bodies of the Re-

public of Kazakhstan.

The main tasks of the ministry are: drafting a blueprint for and

the main aspects of Kazakhstan’s foreign policy and presenting the

relevant proposals to the president and the government; implement-

ing the country’s foreign policy and assisting its foreign economic

policy and strengthening Kazakhstan’s international reputation; and

defending the rights and interests of Kazakhstan, its citizens and legal

entities abroad.

The MFA is also responsible for advancing through diplomatic

means and methods Kazakhstan’s efforts to ensure international peace,

global and regional security; ensuring through diplomatic means and

methods the protection of sovereignty, security, territorial integrity

and the inviolability of borders of the Republic of Kazakhstan, its

political, trade and economic and other interests in relations with

foreign countries and international organisations.

The ministry also drafts proposals for the president on Kazakh-

stan’s foreign political and foreign economic strategy and implements

the president’s international initiatives.

The Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Kazakhstan leads

the armed forces, solves tasks relating to the country’s defence and

drafts a blueprint for building and developing the armed forces,

other armed and military formations, conducts a single military

and technical policy in the state, drafts a state programme for the

development of weapons and military equipment and proposals

on state defence order and spending on defence, and provides

material and technical supplies to the armed forces and cooper-

ates with other government agencies on issues surrounding the

defence of the country.

The chief organ to manage the country’s armed forces during

peacetime and war is the Committee of the Chiefs of Staffs of the

Armed Forces of the Republic of Kazakhstan. It coordinates plans

for the creation and development of the armed forces, other armed

and military formations, their speedy combat and mobilisation

preparations, organises and conducts operative-strategic plans for the

use and coordination of the armed forces, other armed and military

formations and drafts plans for speedy preparation of the country in

the interests of defence.

Relevant legislative acts of Kazakhstan regulate the provision of

military security of the state when there is a threat and during war,

the rules for creating and operating wartime government agencies

and military command.

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Chapter 2. Domestic Policy

98 99

The Ministry of Transport and Communications of the Republic

of Kazakhstan is a central body which manages and coordinates any

inter-sectoral coordination of issues around the development and

implementation of state policy in the transport and telecommunica-

tions sphere.

The main tasks of the Ministry of Transport and Communications

are: the formation of state policy in the transport and communications

sphere and the reactive creation of an efﬁ cient and technologically ad-

vanced transport and telecommunications system to meet the demands

of the economy and society for transport and telecoms services.

The ministry includes: the Committee for the Development of

Transport Infrastructure, the Railways Committee, the Civil Aviation

Committee and the Transport Control Committee.

The main functions of the Ministry of Transport and Communica-

tions are: the formation of state policy in the transport and telecoms

sphere; drafting government and sectoral programmes for the devel-

opment of transport and telecoms networks; drafting legislative acts,

proposals to improve the application of legislation and drafting and

adopting legislative acts regarding transport and telecoms issues it

is responsible for.

In addition, its functions include drafting and adopting technical

and other standards in the transport and telecoms sphere on issues

which are within the powers of the ministry; making predictions and

offering timely and quality services to meet the transport and telecoms

needs of the country and the economy.

The Ministry of Economy and Budget Planning of the Republic

of Kazakhstan is involved in creating and developing a system of

state planning to help the efﬁ cient implementation of priorities of

Kazakhstan’s socioeconomic development.

The main tasks of the Ministry of Economy and Budget Planning

are: the formulation of strategic goals for and aspects of the main

priorities of Kazakhstan’s socioeconomic development; the formu-

lation of state ﬁ scal, customs and budget investment policies with

account of priorities of the country’s socioeconomic development

and monetary-credit policy and policy in the sphere of international

economic and ﬁ nancial relations. In addition, the ministry drafts

government policy in the sphere of managing state-owned assets in

various sectors of the economy.

The Ministry of Culture and Information of the Republic of Ka-

zakhstan is a central executive body of Kazakhstan, and its main pur-

pose is to formulate state policy in the spheres of culture, information,

domestic political stability, interethnic accord and the development of

languages, archives and paperwork, publishing and printing.

The ministry includes the Culture Committee, the Information and

Archives Committee and the Languages Committee.

The Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan is a central

executive body which manages the sphere of healthcare, medical and

pharmaceutical education.

The main functions of the Ministry of Health are: developing state

policy in the healthcare sphere, medical science and medical and

pharmaceutical education; ensuring free medical services to the level

guaranteed by the government (stipulated in legislation). In addition,

the ministry is also responsible for supplying safe, efﬁ cient and quality

medicines to the population and medical establishments.

The ministry incorporates the Committee for Sanitary and Epide-

miological Supervision, the Pharmacy Committee and the Committee

for Monitoring the Quality of Medical Services.

The Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan is

a central executive body that fulﬁ ls state policy in the spheres of

agriculture, forestry, ﬁ shery and hunting, environmental protection

territories and the management of water resources and ﬂ ora and fauna

resources.

The ministry coordinates the work in the spheres of agricultural

machine-building, veterinary, phyto-sanitary, pedigree animal hus-

bandry, melioration, irrigation and drainage, and food production.

This ministry includes the Water Resources Committee and the

Committee for Forestry, Fish and Hunting Industry.

The Ministry of Employment and Social Security of the Republic

of Kazakhstan manages the sphere of labour and social relations and

conducts any inter-sectoral coordination in it.

The main objectives of the ministry are: formulating state policy

in the spheres of labour, health and safety at workplace, employment,

Kazakhstan today

Chapter 2. Domestic Policy