2022 Kazakh constitutional referendum

2022 Kazakh constitutional referendum
5 June 2022
Do you accept amendments and additions to the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan set forth in the draft Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan "On Amendments and Additions to the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan", published in the media on 6 May 2022?
Results
Choice
 Votes %
Yes 6,163,516 77.18%
No 1,490,470 18.66%
Blank votes 205,924 2.58%
Other 125,859 1.58%
Valid votes 7,985,769 100.00%
Invalid votes 205,924 2.58%
Total votes 7,985,769 100.00%
Registered voters/turnout 11,734,642 68.05%
Results by region

A constitutional referendum in Kazakhstan, locally called the Republican referendum (Kazakh: Республикалық референдум, romanized: Respublikalyq referendum; Russian: Республиканский референдум, romanized: Respublikanskiy referendum),[1] was held on 5 June 2022. It was the third referendum since Kazakhstan's independence in 1991, and the first since the 1995 referendum that established the current constitution.[2] The amendments followed violent civil unrest in early January caused by worsening economic conditions and subsequent calls for rapid political reform.[3] The referendum changed 33 of the document's 98 articles.[4] Political commentators assessed that amendments would lessen the influence of the executive branch, grant more powers to the Parliament, and eliminate the powers that former president Nursultan Nazarbayev had retained after resigning from office in 2019.[4][5]

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev unveiled the proposed amendments during his early State of the Nation Address in March 2022.[6] After Tokayev's announcements, he subsequently formed a working group in forming proposals for the constitutional changes along with the Parliament and in April 2022, the proposed amendments to the constitution were submitted to the Constitutional Council for approval.[7] During the drafting of the amendments, several controversial changes were proposed by MPs and Kazakh officials regarding the exclusion of Russian from being a co-official language along with Kazakh; most notably, an early proposal to grant former president Nazarbayev the new honorary title as the "founder of independent Kazakhstan", along with other privileges, faced a public backlash and was eventually scrapped.[8][9] On 29 April, President Tokayev raised the idea of holding a Republican Referendum to approve the changes and additions made to the constitution.[10] In early May, with the approval by the Constitutional Council,[11] the Parliament adopted a draft package of constitutional amendments and additions.[12] As the Parliament ratified a final revision on 5 May, Tokayev approved the draft and set the referendum date in a presidential decree.[13]

Throughout the campaign, the amendments as well as the holding of a referendum were endorsed by various pro-government political parties, state institutions, NGOs, public figures, and statesmen, including former president Nazarbayev himself.[14][15] Although the referendum lacked a unified "No" campaign, civil activists and opposition groups criticized it for the financial cost of the referendum, short timeframe for campaigning, and a lack of dialogue between the Kazakh government and citizens during drafting. Critics argued that the amendments will change little in Kazakh politics and instead simply bolster President Tokayev's potential second term ambitions.[16][17]

To be approved, the proposed amendments had to garner the absolute majority of all votes, including blank and invalid ones, on the national level as well as in two-thirds of the 17 regions and autonomous cities, and a minimum turnout of 50% of registered voters.[18][19] The Central Election Commission (OSK) in the evening of 5 June reported a preliminary turnout of 68.4% shortly after polls had closed.[20] Exit polls, published in the mass media at midnight on 6 June during the coverage of the referendum, indicated that more than 74% of Kazakh voters supported the constitutional changes.[21] In the following morning, the OSK announced that voters approved 56 amendments to the Constitution of Kazakhstan,[22][23] with the overall final results published on 7 June showing 77.2% of the voters in favour and 18.7% opposed.[23][24]

  1. ^ "CONSTITUTIONAL LAW OF THE REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN ON THE REPUBLICAN REFERENDUM". www.election.gov.kz. Archived from the original on 6 June 2022. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  2. ^ "Kazakh President Signs Decree For June 5 Referendum On Constitutional Changes". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. 5 May 2022. Archived from the original on 5 May 2022. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
  3. ^ "Kazakhstan president proposes reforms to limit his powers". www.aljazeera.com. 16 March 2022. Archived from the original on 14 April 2022. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
  4. ^ a b Wood, Colleen (9 May 2022). "What's in Kazakhstan's Constitutional Referendum?". thediplomat.com. Archived from the original on 10 May 2022. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  5. ^ "Kazakhs vote to strip founding figure Nazarbayev of privileges in referendum". the Guardian. Agence France-Presse. 6 June 2022. Archived from the original on 9 June 2022. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  6. ^ Putz, Catherine (16 March 2022). "Tokayev Outlines 'New Kazakhstan' in State of the Nation Address". thediplomat.com. Archived from the original on 16 March 2022. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
  7. ^ Satubaldina, Assel (28 April 2022). "In Kazakhstan, constitutional council to consider president's amendment proposals". ConstitutionNet. Archived from the original on 20 June 2022. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  8. ^ "Status of Nazarbayev as founder of independent Kazakhstan to be enshrined in constitution". interfax.com. 25 April 2022. Archived from the original on 20 May 2022. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  9. ^ Kumenov, Almaz (5 May 2022). "Kazakhstan: Nazarbayev to lose his place in constitution". eurasianet.org. Archived from the original on 3 June 2022. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  10. ^ "Kazakh leader proposes referendum on constitutional reform". Reuters. 29 April 2022. Archived from the original on 5 May 2022. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
  11. ^ SATUBALDINA, ASSEL (5 May 2022). "Constitutional Council Endorses President Tokayev's Appeal to Amend Constitution". The Astana Times. Archived from the original on 5 May 2022. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
  12. ^ "Kazakhstan may hold referendum on constitutional amendments in early June – deputy". interfax.com. 5 May 2022. Archived from the original on 5 May 2022. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
  13. ^ "Kazakhstan to hold constitutional reform referendum on June 5". Reuters. 5 May 2022. Archived from the original on 5 May 2022. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
  14. ^ "Kazakhstan establishes national referendum public support staff". Kazinform. 6 May 2022. Archived from the original on 20 June 2022. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
  15. ^ "Nazarbaev Expresses Support For Constitutional Changes, Toqaev". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. 30 May 2022. Archived from the original on 10 June 2022. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
  16. ^ Sochnev, Artyem (2 June 2022). "Kazakhstan: All politics is local". eurasianet.org. Archived from the original on 10 June 2022. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
  17. ^ Gordeyeva, Mariya (2 June 2022). "Kazakhstan referendum may bolster Tokayev's second-term ambitions". Reuters. Archived from the original on 10 June 2022. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
  18. ^ ch, Beat Müller, beat (arobas) sudd (point) (5 June 2022). "Kasachstan, 5. Juni 2022 : Verfassungsreform – [en allemand]". sudd.ch. Archived from the original on 15 June 2022. Retrieved 20 June 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  19. ^ "THE CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 April 2022.
  20. ^ "Kazakhstan referendum set to pass constitutional change to empower parliament". France 24. 5 June 2022. Archived from the original on 6 June 2022. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  21. ^ AFP (6 June 2022). "Kazakh constitutional referendum set to pass: exit polls". Brecorder. Archived from the original on 14 June 2022. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
  22. ^ "Kazakh President Signs Decree For June 5 Referendum On Constitutional Changes". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. 5 May 2022. Archived from the original on 5 May 2022. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
  23. ^ a b "Kazakhstan's citizens approve Constitutional amendments in state-wide referendum". New Europe. 6 June 2022. Archived from the original on 6 June 2022. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
  24. ^ Khassenkhanova, Galiya (7 June 2022). "Final results of referendum in Kazakhstan announced". Qazaq TV. Archived from the original on 14 June 2022. Retrieved 9 June 2022.