Kazakhstan Annuls Law ‘On the First President’ – The Diplomat

Crossroads Asia | Politics | Central Asia

This week Kazakhstan’s Constitutional Courtroom annulled the 2000 regulation “On the First President” following parliamentary efforts to deliver the nation’s legal guidelines into alignment with adjustments to the structure handed in a June 2022 referendum. 

Among the many adjustments handed within the constitutional referendum was the removing of language referring to particularly to “elbasy” — “Father of the Nation.” Nursultan Nazarbayev, unbiased Kazakhstan’s first president, was granted the title in 2010 by parliament. It was amended into the present regulation “On the First President” as nicely, which secured for Nazarbayev and his household plenty of privileges past these reserved for presidents elsewhere. 

In annulling the regulation “On the First President” the Constitutional Courtroom pointed to the referendum as justification.

As Paolo Sorbello famous in these pages final month, whereas the Kazakh Structure retains provisions offering immunity to former presidents, the nixing of the regulation “On the First President” “will finally impression the immunity additionally granted to Nazarbayev’s members of the family and the price range that the federal government allocates to bills associated to the upkeep of his ‘First President’ group. The provisions of the regulation included housing, transport, a museum, a private archive, a private library, and medical help.”

In essence, Nazarbayev is now no extra particular than another Kazakh president. 

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Nazarbayev resigned in March 2019, handing the presidency over to his long-time affiliate Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. Within the ensuing two years, the 2 acted nearly in tandem, with Tokayev president and Nazarbayev eternally the First President. Nazarbayev retained plenty of key positions, together with as chair of the nationwide safety council and a lifetime membership within the Constitutional Council. 

In January 2022, issues modified. Amid the unrest of what has come to be known as Bloody January, Tokayev unilaterally ousted Nazarbayev from the safety council.

Kazakh authorities have since laid out a grand conspiracy behind the unrest, pointing fingers in Nazarbayev’s route however not naming him particularly. Blame has landed most firmly on former Nationwide Safety Committee (NSC) chief Karim Massimov, one other longtime Nazarbayev ally. However others inside the wider Nazarbayev community have been implicated or punished, both immediately or not directly; for instance, Nazarbayev’s sons-in-law resigned from a few of their most distinguished (and profitable) positions and his daughters have largely stepped again from political life. 

The nixing of the regulation “On the First President” additional exposes the Nazarbayev household to doable prosecution, eradicating a defend they’d lengthy been capable of disguise behind. (Be aware, once more, Nazarbayev himself retains the identical immunity assured by the structure to all presidents.) In fact, it’s in no way clear that Astana intends to truly pursue any type of expenses in opposition to the Nazarbayevs (past these it already has), solely that the risk now exists that the state may. As Sorbello famous, it’s most likely the price range minimize entailed by annulling the regulation “On the First President” that can harm the household most critically.

At 82, Nazarbayev’s period may be very a lot waning. However he was president for practically 30 years and each main political actor — Tokayev included — owe their standing to him. Tokayev could also be making an attempt to push Kazakhstan into a brand new period, his personal, however the baggage of the Nazarbayev days is heavy and Astana has not left all of it behind.