Tengrinews.kz – The Government of Kazakhstan will resign before the newly elected Kurultai when the new Constitution comes into force. This was mentioned at a joint session of the chambers of Parliament taking place in Astana.
Deputies reviewed and approved in the first reading a draft constitutional law on the President, which also establishes the powers of the Vice President.
During the discussion of the document, Senator Bekbolat Orynbekov recalled that under the new Constitution, the government will have to resign before the newly elected Kurultai. The deputy asked whether the same provisions would apply to the Vice President — before a newly elected President.
“According to the Constitution, the government resigns before the newly elected Kurultai. In addition, under paragraph 1 of Article 20 of the draft constitutional law, the powers of heads of state bodies directly subordinate and accountable to the President are terminated when a newly elected President takes office. At the same time, they continue to perform their duties until the Head of State appoints the heads of these bodies. A similar mechanism is also provided for the akims of the capital and regions. In this regard, I have the following question: do you consider it possible to extend this mechanism to the office of Vice President as well, specifically the termination of his powers when a newly elected President takes office?” Orynbekov asked the Minister of Justice.
Justice Minister Yerlan Sarsembayev recalled that the Vice President will not manage a separate body.
“The introduction of the institution of Vice President generally ensures stable and systematic work. The Vice President will not manage an individual state body, but will act on behalf of the President. Given this position, we do not consider it necessary for the Vice President’s powers to be resigned before a newly elected President,” Sarsembayev said.
As a reminder, the new Constitution, adopted in the national referendum on March 15, will come into force on July 1 of this year. Elections to the new Kurultai, currently Parliament, will be held in August.
Context
Under the new Constitution, the government resigns before the newly elected Kurultai.
In addition, the government and any of its members have the right to submit their resignation to the President if they consider it impossible to continue performing the functions assigned to them.
The government submits its resignation to the President if the Kurultai passes a vote of no confidence in the government. The President then considers whether to accept or reject the resignation within ten days.
