Signatures collected for referendum on extending Nazarbayev's powers.

30/12 Tass 68

ASTANA, December 30 (Itar-Tass) - The necessary number of signatures
has been collected to stage a referendum on extending powers of Kazakh
President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Itar-Tass learnt from Yerlan Sadykov, head
of the sponsoring group and rector of Semipalatinsk State University named
after Shakarim.
"We have crossed the necessary frontier as of this Thursday: we have
collected at least 200,000 signatures, necessary for tendering a proposal
on a referendum concerning the head of state. However, we put forth the
aim of collecting over two million all over the country so that the
president would have no doubts," he noted.
The collection of signatures in support of a referendum on extending
powers of the incumbent Kazakh president started in the country on
December 27.
On Wednesday, the lower chamber of the Kazakh parliament adopted a
draft appeal to the Kazakh president and a bill on "making changes in the
Kazakh Constitution".
Deputies request in their letter, addressed to the head of state, "to
support an initiative and fix a republican referendum on the following
question: "Do you approve the law on 'making changes in the Kazakh
Constitution', providing for a possibility of extending presidential
powers of the first Kazakh president at a republican referendum".
The draft appeal and the bill are to be approved by the Senate (upper
chamber) of the country's parliament. Then the documents will be forwarded
to the head of state for consideration.
-0-bur/kud