Chairman of the Agency for Religion comments on the new law on religion

Kairat Lama Sharif, Chairman of the Agency for Religion, is glad the new law on religion has been signed by President Nazarbayev, he said that during a telephone interview for Tengrinews.kz. “I am glad the law is signed. It was long-awaited. The most important is how the law will be enforced. There should be a strong dialogue with the public at large through the nation’s media. Each issue should be widely covered so that the society could understand all measures taken by us. It is of great importance”, Kairat Lama Sharif said. According to him, the Agency is drafting respective minor decrees and studying foreign practices. “The process is complicated as the Agency has been just recently established for the first time ever. For the 10 days prior to the law coming into force the Agency will draft all the minor decrees. Norms regulating registration and re-registration of religion organizations will be the first to be drafted”. “We have announced vacancies. 300 people have applied for the current 16 openings. 20 people are running for each vacancy. Some of them are experts on religion with a respective university degree. It’s important to make sure they are truly qualified and are capable of accomplishing the task. It’s a hard work. The candidates are sitting for a test which comprises about 100 questions. We need to make sure the would-be officers know the difference among confessions and launch a team in time”, Kairat Lama Sharif elaborated.