A round table discussion titled "The institution of the presidency is a factor of political stability and pillar of statehood" was held at the Presidential Center of the Department of Presidential Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan on the eve of the day the institution was established in Kazakhstan.
The event was organized to address topical issues of the genesis of the institution of the presidency, its legal nature and place in the system of public authorities, as well as to discuss trends in transformation and the main results of its functioning.
As Bakytzhan Temirbolat, Director of the Presidential Center, emphasized in his welcoming remarks, each stage of development of the institution of the presidency in Kazakhstan was a response to the strategic challenges facing the nation in each specific historical period. The modern stage is associated with the constitutional reform of 2022, which created a new foundation for the political reset of the country. The decentralization measures taken, through the redistribution of powers from the President to the legislative, executive and judicial branches, have defined a new format for the place and role of the institution of the presidency in society. The country has moved to the model of a presidential republic with a strong Parliament.
According to Askar Nursha, Deputy Director of the Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Studies under the President of Kazakhstan, we have moved away from the super-presidential form of government and are now moving towards the concept of "the President as a hired manager". Experts and scientists researching Kazakhstan's presidential system must first understand our cultural code and consider how customs, society, and history have shaped these and other political transformations.
The primary objective of the present radical changes, according to Berik Bekzhanov, Deputy Director of the Institute of Parliamentarism, is to enhance the involvement of civil society in the public decision-making process. However, the strengthening of rights implies an increase in responsibility. In this regard, the successful development of the institution of the presidency is impossible without every official, each member of society to take full responsibility for the future of the country.
During the round table presentations were also given by the chief researcher of the Institute of State History, Doctor of Political Sciences ZhapsarbaiKuanyshev, head of the Center for International Programs of Nursultan Nazarbayev Foundation ZiyadaZhanataeva, associate professor of the Kazakhstan branch of Lomonosov Moscow State University, candidate of historical sciences Sagintai Berdagulova.
