Kazakh President wins constitutional referendum with 77% support

Radical changes to the constitution of Kazakhstan have been comfortably approved in a referendum. There was some opposition but that too was a sign of the country’s progress towards a freer and more democratic society, writes Political Editor Nick Powell.

A constitutional reform package put forward by Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has been overwhelmingly approved by voters in a referendum. Turnout was 68%. That’s a healthy figure by European standards but both the turnout and the 77% in favour show that there were people who remained unconvinced.

When he cast his own vote, the President said it was “an important historical day” and “a fateful decision” but there was no compulsion to take part or to vote in favour. Kassym-Jomart Tokayev doubled down on constitutional reform as a response to the events at the start of the year, known as Tragic January, when protests about price rises were followed by armed violence.

“We believe there will be no recurrence of Tragic January in our country. Today’s referendum serves as a guarantee. We have learned the lessons”, the President said. His reforms will mean that Kazakhstan is no-longer a ‘super-presidential’ republic, with a greater role for parliament and with judicial and legal reforms aimed at securing human rights.

It will also become easier to register political parties and to hold legal protests. In a sign of the times, women, apparently from an unregistered political party, chanted slogans after casting their votes in a polling station in Almaty. They were simply asked to leave and they carried on outside. Police watched but did not intervene, tolerating behaviour that would almost guarantee arrest in many countries.

All constitutional changes are meant to be put to a referendum in Kazakhstan, though when he called one, President Tokayev noted that amendments had been made by his predecessor, Nursultan Nazarbayev, without being put a vote.

Announcing the preliminary official results, the chair of the Central Referendum Commission, Nurlan Abdirov, confirmed that the requirements to change the constitution had been met. These included a turnout by a majority of voters in more than two-thirds of the country’s regions. In fact, turnout was sufficiently high -and opposition sufficiently low- that an absolute majority in favour was achieved in all regions.

Nevertheless, nearly 19% voted no and more than 4% cast invalid ballots. Most criticism had focused on the speed with which the changes are being made, rather than their actual impact. The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mukhtar Tileuberdi, welcomed the high voter turnout and decision to support the reforms.

“We are also grateful to numerous domestic and foreign observers for monitoring the referendum, which helped us in conducting it in a fair and transparent manner, in line with democratic standards and principles”, he said.

The Deputy Prime Minister acknowledged that it was just a first step to building the promised New Kazakhstan, with significant legal, constitutional and practical changes required to implement the referendum result.

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