Kazakhstan: Voters Approve Constitutional Changes

JUN 6 2022·Updated JAN 5 2023

Story

Image credit: Reuters [via Al Jazeera]

The Facts

Kazakhstan's Pres. Kassym-Jomart Tokayev vowed to implement democratic reforms after the Central Election Commission's announced on Mon. that the population widely favored the reforms in a referendum.
Al Jazeera
Almost 70% of Kazakh voters cast a ballot on Sun., and preliminary results released by the CEC indicate that over 77% of them backed the changes while less than 19% rejected them.
Independent
This comes months after the "January bloodshed," when 230 people were killed and authorities called in troops from a Moscow-led security bloc following a peaceful demonstration against rising fuel prices.
guardian
Despite being chosen by the former leader Nursultan Nazarbayev in 2019, Tokayev pushed for reforms with the referendum to create a "New Kazakhstan" and end the "super-presidential" rule.
Al Jazeera
Amendments will deprive Nazarbayev of his status of "leader of the nation" and make nepotism illegal in the government.
guardian
They also strengthen the role of the parliament, restore the Constitutional Court, and abolish the death penalty.
DW

Sources Split

LEFT

CENTER

RIGHT

ESTAB
CRIT

CENTER

PRO
ESTAB

The Spin

Pro-establishment narrative

The approval of this referendum gives hope that democratic liberalism can flourish in Eurasia despite a rising authoritarian tide. Kazakhstan can become an important ally to Western powers, so it should fully engage to promote stability and help facilitate a transition to democracy.

wsj

Establishment-critical narrative

Western powers shouldn't fall into wishful thinking; this may not be enough to solve Kazakhstan's problems. The reforms passed in the referendum don't address the deep structural problems that have led to recent agitations in the country. These reforms focus mostly on auxiliary problems to provide an image of stability at home and abroad.