Unicameral parliament initiative gains majority support in Kazakhstan
Deputy Chairman of the Constitutional Commission Yerlan Karin highlighted the work done by the Working Group on Parliamentary Reform, Qazinform News Agency reports.
According to him, the initiative to shift to a unicameral parliament, announced by the Head of State on 8 September last year, was backed by the majority of the country's citizens.
He said that the Working Group was established on October 8, 2025 by a decree of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. It includes leaders of parliamentary party factions, prominent scholars, experts, public figures, and members of the National Council.
“All proposals on the parliamentary reform have been fully collected since October. The Working Group members were given a month to draft their own proposals and comments on the upcoming reform,” Erlan Karin said.
To collect citizens’ proposals and opinions, a special section titled “Parliamentary Reform” was created on the e-Otinish and eGov portals. The Institute of Parliamentarism was responsible for systematizing and summarizing the submissions. In addition, the Institute of Legislation and Legal Information and the Institute of Strategic Studies were involved in the work, studying international experience in the field of parliamentarism.
He also noted that not only members of the Working Group participated in the process, but also the parties Amanat, Auyl, Respublika, Aq Jol, the People's Party of Kazakhstan, the National Social Democratic Party, as well as a number of public and professional organizations, including Baitaq, the Zhanaru Anti-Corruption Movement, the Republican Bar Association, the Toqtamys lawyers' community, the International Chamber of Arbitration and Mediation, the Parliamentarism Development Fund, the Institute of Economic Policy, and the Civil Initiative Group.
Earlier, Assistant to the President for Legal Affairs Yerzhan Zhienbayev spoke on the proposed amendments concerning the institution of the Vice President in Kazakhstan.
