Nazarbayev signed amendments to state service law

Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev has signed the Law On amendments to several legislative acts of Kazakhstan on state service called to improve efficiency of Kazakhstan's state machine. The amendments introduce new mechanisms of forming, functioning and assessment of state service personnel, Tengrinews.kz reports citing the President’s official website. The law provides for enhancement of meritocracy principle in selection and promotion of personnel, improvement of efficiency, objectivity and transparency of selection for state positions, and creation of a managerial A block. According to the President, the number of political state workers will be cut 8-fold after the block of professional managers is formed. Only the positions of heads of state authorities and their deputies will be left unchanged. “Ministers and Akims (Mayors and Governors) have to work on implementation of industrial policies and development of regions and not get involved in personnel issues or distribution of budget money,” the President said at the meeting on development of the regions of Kazakhstan. Speaking of creation of the A Block, Nursultan Nazarbayev said that the selection would be strict, transparent and would be governed only by professional and business qualities of the candidates. Besides, the new law bans so-called “team movements”, when a new manager moves a group of his employees from his or her previous place of work. The new law also says that state workers can be brought to responsibility for violation of ethics. Earlier Tengrinews.kz English cited the President as reminding the officials about their obligations to serve the people as public workers.