Law enforcement agencies in Kazakhstan have found that 12 organized criminal groups took part in the mass riots in the country in January, TASS reported.
The agency cited Eldos Kilimzhanov, deputy head of the criminal department of the Prosecutor General’s Office, who said the most active were Dzhumalgeldiev’s (“Wild Arman”) group, the Kazakh and Aishuak Zhantugel groups. 23 members of organized criminal groups were arrested, incl. four chiefs. So far, 547 people are suspected of organizing and participating in riots, of which 269 have been detained, he said.
Kazakh President Kasam-Jomart Tokayev described the riots as a coup attempt and called for military assistance from the Russian-dominated Collective Security Treaty Organization. The state of emergency was lifted on January 19th. According to local authorities, 230 people were killed and more than 4,500 were injured in the events.
Kazakhstan is on the path to expanding and strengthening democracy
In response to the notorious events in Kazakhstan after the decisive phase of calming the situation in the country, President Kasim-Jomart Kemelevich Tokayev announced the beginning of a series of reforms. The purpose of the same is generally to expand and strengthen democracy. This goal is achieved by:
1. Deliberate self-limitation of certain presidential powers, namely:
– The President is legally obliged to terminate his membership in a political party for the term of his term;
– The President will no longer have the authority to remove the heads of local authorities;
– To be controlled by the Parliament when the President appoints the President of the (newly established) Constitutional Court and the President of the Supreme Judicial Council, ie. in this case the consent of one of the two chambers of parliament is required – that of the Upper House, i.e. of the Senate;
2. Establishment of a system of balances and mechanisms through which the system on the one hand facilitates and on the other hand strengthens both public and mutual control between the various centers of power, territorial units, and important state and political positions:
– The President proposes to create the Abay and Ulytau regions with regional centers in the cities of Semey and Zhezkazgan, respectively. The leader of Kazakhstan also announced the decision to divide the Almaty region into two new ones – Almaty with a center in Kapshagai and Zhetisu with a center in Taldikorgan;
– Civil servants and politicians should be limited in the number of positions they can hold at the same time to avoid excessive concentration of power;
– The lower house of parliament, the Majilis, should be reformed to include 70 to 30 national and regional representatives. In addition, the Majilis should have expanded legislative powers;
– Launch reforms to transfer the Central Election Commission to independent professional governance and reduce the threshold for registration of political parties four times, from 20,000 to 5,000 members.
– In addition, stepping up social media campaigns and setting limits on campaign donations to prevent the influence of individuals and strengthen the principle of non-interference in the electoral process from abroad – these measures will ensure the independence and transparency of the electoral system. country system;
3. Specific reforms of important state institutions and their policies are proposed:
– Law enforcement reforms focused on citizens’ rights in litigation and law enforcement. Conduct a large-scale investigation into allegations of torture and ill-treatment. The investigation should be conducted by the Prosecutor General’s Office;
– The final abolition of the death penalty concerning its exclusion from the Constitution;
– Judicial reform involves the restoration of the Constitutional Court to guarantee the right to appeal to the Constitutional Court. This right, in addition to the President and Parliament, will be granted to both the Prosecutor General and the Commissioner for Human Rights;
– Key meetings of the Supreme Judicial Council to be broadcast online, and the procedure for electing judges will become more transparent. The trial will be introduced for a wider range of cases;
4. Enhancing the role of civil society, strengthening civil rights, and expanding freedom of the press and the media
– To strengthen the status of the Ombudsman for Human Rights at the level of the Constitution and the Constitutional Law, to strengthen the role of public councils, to radically change the format of their work;
– The Presidential Reform Program noted the importance of the role of the media in raising urgent issues. Media laws should be reviewed accordingly to ensure greater competition in the media.
In this way, President K. Tokayev approved new rules and approaches in state policy aimed at economic stability, social protection, financial security, and protection of citizens in all spheres of public life. Kazakhstan is pursuing a policy of large-scale democratization and reform of society as a whole and the country as a whole.
All these reforms confirm the fact that Kazakhstan is confidently on the path to expanding and strengthening democracy.
