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www.kazakhstan-embassy-us.org

Vol. 3, No. 32, September 4, 2002

World needs to do more to fight environmental and drug trafficking problems in Central Asia

President Nazarbayev says

Constitution made market and democratic

reforms possible

...and secured fundamental rights

and freedom

President calls for the Human Right

Ombudsman and demands stoppage to the

interference in the media affairs

Political parties should represent opinions of broad layers of the society, President says

Next decade will bring serious endurance test for all nations in Central Asia, Nazarbayev believes

President addresses Parliament's opening session, lays out legislative priorities

Government engages in dialogue with media

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DO YOU KNOW THAT...

...Kazakhstan's Constitution was adopted by the vote of 89 percent with the turnout of 90 percent at the nationwide referendum on August 30, 1995.

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World needs to do more to fight environmental and drug trafficking problems in Central Asia

The international community did not live up to its obligations undertaken 10 years ago at the first UN sustainable development summit in Rio, President Nazarbayev said addressing the Johannesburg gathering on September 4, calling for help to fight environmental and drug trafficking problems in Central Asia.

Saying that more than 1 billion people live in poverty with no access to drinking water, Nursultan Nazarbayev reiterated his proposal of 10 years ago to every nation in the world to reduce its military expenditures by one percent and devote the money to the development of the poorest nations.

He said that after the collapse of the Soviet Union Central Asian nations were left all by themselves to face daunting problems of the shrinking Aral Sea and vast swathes of nuclear contaminated land [around the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site].

Despite increased attention to ecological problems on the global scale, the international community, still didn't pour enough efforts to addressing these particular problems, the Kazakhstan leader said. He called upon the United Nations to develop a register of global ecological problems and draw large-scale investment to solve them.

Noting that the problems of Afghanistan continue to cause major concern for the regional nations the President of Kazakhstan called upon the world to urgently develop a UN program to systematically counter drug trafficking in Central Asia.

President Nazarbayev says Constitution made market and democratic reforms possible

On August 29, President Nursultan Nazarbayev said publicly Kazakhstan's Constitution became "legal foundation for the socially oriented state with market economy and allowed for consistent democratic changes."

"Based on the Constitution we strengthened Kazakhstan's sovereignty, established the division of power and began to form new laws for the republic", the President said addressing the nation on the occasion of the 7th anniversary of Kazakhstan's Constitution.

Commenting on the process that lead to the adoption of the current Constitution in 1995, President Nazarbayev pointed out that at that time the nation was faced with the need to select a state structure model for Kazakhstan, to choose between a parliamentarian and a presidential republic.

"In the circumstances of non-existence of large political associations with a social basis and their immaturity, there was no sense in talking about the parliamentary republic," the President said, adding that "parliamentary republics are subject to frequent political crises, continuous reelections of legislative bodies and changes of government".

"For a young nation in the process of building its independence under the conditions of the most severe economic crisis, that could have inevitably lead to chaos and stagnation. But to implement reforms, there's nothing more important then a stable state", he stated.

Given the broad diversity of political aspirations of the parties and the people, as well as the clearly defined ethnic heterogeneity of the population, which representatives continue "to preserve their national identification with inherent mentality, customs, and world outlook", the President stressed that "obviously, Kazakhstan currently needs a strong state power with a presidential form of government" in order to prevent interethnic and interconfessional discord and to strengthen the country's independence.

"Our successes in the economy, the stability in the country, the interethnic harmony and the resolution of contradictions along the constitutional path were achieved on the basis of this Constitution," he said.

"The freedom of labor and enterprise, first guaranteed in the Constitution of 1995, nowadays become possible through the simplified registration procedures and taxation for entrepreneurs (particularly, in the small business sector), and through the fight to free external trade," Mr. Nazarbayev underscored. The reduction of tax burden, limiting government interference into the private sector are also geared toward the same goals, he noted.

"Private enterprises in Kazakhstan employ 4.7 million people, which is 77 percent of the total employment in the economy," Mr. Nazarbayev underscored. "There are 400,000 small and medium sized businesses employing around one million people".

"Relying on the dynamic economic growth, the state increases annually pensions and social benefits, salaries to public sector employees. The revenues of all the people of Kazakhstan are increasing," he said.

...and secured fundamental rights and freedom

The Constitution gave our citizens right to elect through free and general election the President and the Parliament, as well as local deputies.

"Citizens have the right to create associations as they wish," Mr. Nazarbayev said. "Freedom of conscience is ensured, and everybody is free to practice his or her own religion. The equality of ethnic groups and languages is observed."

"The Constitution ensures the freedom of speech. There is no censorship in the country. Almost 90 percent of the media are privately owned," the President said, adding that the people of Kazakhstan "are free to go to any corner of the planet".

The President praised the role of the Constitutional Council of the Republic in ensuring the supremacy of the Constitution.

"Today, judging by its authority, the Council surpasses the former Constitutional Court," Mr. Nazarbayev said. "It corresponds more to modern realities," he continued. "It can rule on the issue of constitutionality of any given [draft] law before it is signed by the President, while the Court only ruled on the existing legal acts that were in effect already, which, surely, complicated the process."

President calls for the Human Right Ombudsman and demands stoppage to the interference in the media affairs

Speaking on the same occasion, the President called for the establishment of the office of the Human Rights Ombudsman by the end of the year that "would fit appropriately into the national system for the protection of human rights".

He also said "the interference with the legitimate activity of the media should stop". He instructed the authorities to reexamine the closures of media, and "in case the actions were illegitimate, provide an opportunity for normal work".

Political parties should represent opinions of broad layers of the society, President says

"The new law on political parties, having raised the requirements the parties must fulfill, is aimed at increasing their authority and role in political life of the society and at transforming them into an effective mechanism of state management," the President said in the same address.

"Parties should represent opinions of broad layers of the society, not the private interests of some individuals," he noted. "This should become the condition for the parties' participation in the political process".

"We will continue the relentless struggle against corruption," the President added. "It is important to clearly understand that everyone is equal before the law and should bear responsibility notwithstanding their rank, positions and political orientation".

Next decade will bring serious endurance test for Central Asia, Nazarbayev believes

"The political and military situation in our neighboring regions changed dramatically. The South Asia became the zone of conflicts and intensive piling up of nuclear weapons," President Nazarbayev said on the same occasion. "It means that the next decade will bring a serious endurance test for all the independent nations of the region."

"One should not forget that Kazakhstan lies in the zone of attraction of the three greatest cultures and civilizations: Russian-Christian, Chinese-Confucian and Central Asian-Islamic," he said. "Building normal relations with all the neighbors is an important dimension of our policy".

"Kazakhstan has to carry out internal reforms in a very unstable external environment", the President declared, which "influences the speed of political change".

"A strong nation state in an unstable external environment is the main guarantee of preserving the independence," the President concluded. "To preserve and strengthen the statehood against the backdrop of integration into the world economy is of utmost priority to us."

President addresses Parliament's opening session, lays out legislative priorities

On September 1, President Nazarbayev addressed the joint session of Kazakhstan's national bicameral parliament to lay out his legislative priorities for the upcoming year.

The President specifically asked legislators to give priority to 15 bills that concern "key areas of the national economy" before the end of the year. These include bills on joint stock companies, social security, investments, and amendments to pension and anti-monopoly laws and legislative acts regulating the stock market, as well as bills concerning the development of the capital city of Astana.

Other priorities include the new water, tax and land codes. The land code, according to the President, should include private land ownership in the agricultural sphere.

Mr. Nazarbayev also called for the adoption of the new election legislation and the amendments to the law on the fight against corruption.

Government engages in dialogue with media

Government officials, including a deputy prime minister, ministers of justice, interior, and culture and information, as well as the chairman of the National Security Committee, met with editors of nationwide electronic and print media on September 3 to pursue dialogue to improve relations between the authorities and the press. The issues discussed included stepping up the protection of journalists and improving access to the information.

"We do not want to hide anything," Deputy Prime Minister Baurzhan Mukhmedzhanov said. "What we are looking for is objective coverage."

Kairbek Suleimenov, the Minister of Interior, pledging continuous protection called upon the media to establish public associations to ensure control over the law enforcement bodies.

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For more news and information visit us at www.kazakhstan-embassy-us.org

News Bulletin of the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan

(Compiled from own sources and various agencies' reports)

Contact persons: Roman Vassilenko, Aibek Nurbalin

Tel.: (202) 232- 5488 ext. 104, 115

Fax: (202) 232- 5845