Kazakhstan`s CEC to send president protocol supporting referendum

ASTANA, January 13 (Itar-Tass) - The Kazakh Central Election
Commission approved the final protocol on results of verifying signatures
of citizens that voiced an initiative on holding a republican referendum
on extending powers of the incumbent head of state till 2020, said
chairman of the Republican CEC Kuandyk Turgankulov, speaking at a news
conference on Thursday.
"The CEC received protocols of all territorial election commissions as
of January 13, 2011 on the results of verifying signatures. The initiative
group in support of the referendum also handed over to the Central
Election Commission combined data on the results of collection of
signatures and filled-in signature lists.
"All in all, 5,016,000 signatures, or 55.2 percent of the total number
of citizens of the country with the right to participate in a republican
referendum, were collected in support of the initiative on holding a
republican referendum," he noted.
According to the CEC chairman, the final protocol of the Central
Election Commission along with a proposal on a republican referendum will
be forwarded to President Nursultan Nazarbayev within two days.
Turgankulov specified that the time of examination of these documents by
the head of state is not limited by legislation.
On December 27, the Kazakh Central Election Commission registered the
referendum initiative group and its statement with a proposal on staging a
referendum on making an amendment to the Constitution, providing for
extending powers of the incumbent head of state. The initiative was backed
by the bicameral national parliament.
However, Nazarbayev issued a decree late last week, rejecting a
proposal by the republican parliament on fixing a referendum.
On January 8, speaker of the lower house of the Kazakh parliament
(Majilis) Ural Mukhamedzhanov signed an instruction on calling a joint
sitting of the two chambers of the country's legislative body on January
14. According to member of the parliament upper chamber Anatoly Bashmakov,
"in compliance with Article 91 of the Kazakh Constitution, members of the
two chambers have the right to debate at a joint sitting and to override
the president's disagreement".
For this purpose, it is necessary to collect 80 percent of
legislators' votes. "I have no doubt that this question will be settled
positively," he told reporters.
Nazarbayev, 70, is in power for over 20 years. In 1995, a referendum
already prolonged his powers till the end of 1999. The regular
presidential elections are to be staged in the country in 2012. The
incumbent head of state plans to put forth his candidacy at the polls.
-0-bur/kud