Bayir Zhamsuev: there is a definite trend towards social consolidation in the voting

Bayir Zhamsuev, a member of the Standing Commission on Political Affairs and International Cooperation of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Collective Security Treaty Organization and deputy Chairman of the Committee on International Affairs of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, emphasized the scale of the amendments proposed to the constitutional referendum on 33 articles of the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan, “which is at least a third of the Constitution.”
“Today we visited a number of polling stations. We can see that the referendum is well-organized; people are coming to vote quite actively. The turnout at the referendum can be predicted to be quite high, and overall, I think that the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan has done a lot of work,” said Bayir Zhamsuev.
He elaborated on the place and importance for Kazakhstan’s statehood of the amendments proposed to the referendum on the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan and said, “One can feel a certain tendency towards social consolidation around those issues, those amendments that are on the referendum today. I hope everything will end well today, and we will witness a successful referendum.”
The CSTO PA international observer noted that after talking with representatives of the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan he has an impression that “reforms that are planned in Kazakhstan in connection with proposed amendments and changes to the Constitution are quite massive. This is evidenced, first of all, by the fact that the amendments and changes, submitted to the referendum, affect 33 articles of the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan – it is almost a third of the text of the Constitution of Kazakhstan. These are very large-scale and profound amendments to the Basic Law of the state,” said Bayir Zhamsuev. “As far as I understand, preparations to amend the Constitution had been made previously; it was time for the changes, if only because the last constitutional referendum in Kazakhstan was held 27 years ago,” he added.
“Understandably, life goes on, economy is changing, and so does the political landscape and international situation, and I think that the proposed changes are evolutionary and necessary for the further development of both the statehood of Kazakhstan and Kazakh society as a whole. Judging by the work done and the sentiments of the people with whom we met and exchanged opinions, I come to the conclusion that quite a lot of work has been done to explain the amendments and changes proposed for the referendum and, as far as I can tell, most of the population supports these amendments,” said Bayir Zhamsuev.
“It is also clear that prior to the introduction of specific wording, there was some discussion in society concerning a number of issues such as a ban for close relatives of the first President of Kazakhstan barring them from holding public offices and participating in state-owned companies. This is a serious step that was deliberated in Kazakh society,” said Bayir Zhamsuev.
“And, as a person who is somewhat familiar with the situation, I was interested in a proposal to introduce a ban on the death penalty in the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan. It also provoked discussions in Kazakh society and it was decided to propose such an amendment to the Constitution.”
Bayir Zhamsuev, deputy Chairman of the Committee on International Affairs of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, emphasized that if the amendments proposed to the referendum are adopted, the role and importance of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan, both the Senate and the Mazhilis, will increase. “Given that they will have more powers, there will be more opportunities for new people to come to the Parliament through direct election. Apparently, this is also a development need. The role and place of the ordinary voter with the changes in the election system is increasing,” said Bayir Zhamsuev.