THE PARLIAMENT COMPLETED THE FIRST SESSION OF THE SIXTH CONVOCATION

Astana, June 30. Mazhilis House. Today, a joint meeting of the both Houses was held under the chairmanship of the Mazhilis speaker Mr Nurlan Nigmatulin. Summing up the results of deputy activity during the sixth convocation, Mr Nurlan Nigmatulin noted that the main subject of the deputies’ legislative efforts was associated with the priorities set forth by the President at the opening of the first session of this convocation and in his Address “Kazakhstan in the new global reality: the growth, the reforms, the development”. In total, in the first session  there were 3 joint meetings, 12 plenary sessions of Mazhilis, 6 plenary sessions of Senate, 170 standing committees, and, in the both Houses, 186 sessions of working groups engaged in making draft laws. According to the Mazhilis speaker, under consideration of the Parliament in this period were 42 draft laws of which 18 were  transferred from the previous convocation and 24 came to this first session. Seven draft laws were initiated by the deputies themselves. At the end of the session, the Mazhilis approved 13 draft laws and sent them to the Senate. The Parliament adopted 12 laws. As of today, 4 of these laws are signed by the President of Kazakhstan and have come into legal force. Concerning the examined legislative acts, Mr Nurlan Nigmatulin placed emphasis on the law on payments and payment systems as well as on the parliamentary ratification of a number of international agreements that ensure our foreign-policy priorities and are aimed at the strengthening of co-operation with foreign countries/international organizations in the financial sphere and at regulating some aspects of activity in the framework of the Commonwealth of Independent States and Eurasian space. Apart from this, as stressed by the Mazhilis speaker, the parliamentarians focused on the implementation of the “Nurly Zhol” party’s programs on the development of the health care system, the agrarian sector, the formation of the local police service, the institute of private law enforcement, and other issues. In this period, there were held 1 parliamentary hearing, 3 “government hours”, 1 international conference, 7 round tables, and 4 visiting sessions of the permanent committees where under consideration were the issues of state policy in different spheres that call for legislative regulation. 2,935 resorts of citizens have come to the address of the deputies. “In the course of the first session, the deputies gave significant attention to solving specific problems raised by the country’s population. For example, as a result of this session, the deputies of the both Houses sent 115 deputy’s inquiries to the Government and to other central authorities with regard to the following subjects: the industrial and innovation-driven growth of economy and the financial/banking system; the implementation of the state programmes on education, health care, social security, religious development, defense, public order, cybersecurity; and other very significant and important problems” noted Mr Nurlan Nigmatulin. In his report the Mazhilis speaker placed greater focus on the deputies’ work on strengthening the interparliamentary cooperation and developing the parliamentary diplomacy as well as on promoting the Kazakhstan’s international initiatives. “The election of Kazakhstan to the United Nations Security Council as a nonpermanent member has become an evidence of the ever growing prestige and role of our country among the world community. This is really an event of historic proportions. For just under 25 years, Kazakhstan, under the guidance of the President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, has risen through the ranks of new members of this influential international organization to the participation in the work of its highest governing body. The very decision on the election of Kazakhstan to the United Nations Security Council was taken in recognition of Head of our state as a global-scale leader and as a result of the tremendous work that Mr Nazarbayev has been consistently performing since the first days of our Independence to achieve the nuclear disarmament and ensure a dialogue between cultures and civilizations as well as to strengthen confidence between countries and peoples of the world”, accentuated Mr Nurlan Nigmatulin. Concerning the high-priority tasks of legislative activity for a session to come, the Chairman of Mazhilis noted that these tasks were directly connected with the priorities of the state policy. “As you know, in the 10 June UN Security Council session, the Head of our state charged our Government with a 2 months-duration task to work out a package of legislative initiatives in the sphere of counter-terror/counter-extremism; in the sphere of circulation, storage and sale of weapons; in the field of regulating migration issues and issues of religious associations. We are looking forward to presenting these draft laws for consideration before the Parliament as early as at the beginning of the next session. The deputies of the both Houses are ready for the well coordinated co-operation with the Government with the objective of defending peace and tranquility of our citizens and ensuring a reliable legal framework to maintain the homeland security”, said Mr Nurlan Nigmatulin. According to him, the coming period will set a task before the deputies to further ensure an effective legislative support to the National Development Plan “100 particular steps”. At that, Mr Nurlan Nigmatulin made it clear that this work will be based on a serious systematic foundation. “All the draft laws adopted for the implementation of the five institutional reforms will be monitored by particular deputies of Mazhilis who will see to it that they are implemented and, in case of need, pre-emptively come up with some measures so as to further improve these legislative acts. The overall coordination over this work will be the responsibility of the chairmen of special-purpose committees of Mazhilis. As a whole, the parliamentarians see their primary target, during the coming period, in ensuring a qualitative legislative framework for the implementation of the Five institutional presidential reforms and the National Development Plan “100 particular steps”. Of great importance will also be an active participation of the Senate and Mazhilis deputies in awareness-raising in large sections of the public with the aim of bringing about the citizens’ understanding in relation to the necessity of laws being adopted for the sustainable development of the country”, said the Mazhilis speaker Mr Nurlan Nigmatulin. The speaker also assured that the Parliament will actively cooperate to achieve comprehensive law enforcement. “And we will carry out the presidential directions by ensuring a tight, systematic and effective law enforcement”, highlighted the Mazhilis Chairman. Concerning the readiness of the Parliament to interact with the Government, he declared determination of the both Houses’ deputies to productively cooperate. “In our turn, we expect that the representatives of the executive branch give careful consideration to the co-operation with the deputy corps and initiate qualitative draft laws”, said Mr N.Nigmatulin. The Mazhilis speaker also informed that, to improve the Parliament’s transparency, a decision was taken that the deputies in the next session would resume the consideration of direct transmissions of sessions held both by the Senate and Mazhilis in the online mode at the parliamentary official site. “The deputies of the both Houses are open to dialogues and interested in constantly getting in touch both with representatives of civil society and of mass media and are ready to discuss any topics and any issues of today’s public concern”, said the speaker.  As Mr N.Nigmatulin noted, the deputies see with clear vision that, on the one hand, they have to bring the essence of suggested laws and innovations to each Kazakhstani’s notice and, on the other hand, to constantly keep their finger on the pulse of the society, to know and reveal problems of people’s concern, to submit such problems for consideration before the Parliament, and to timely use all reasonable legislative efforts. It is assumed that some changes will be introduced in the Parliamentary Rules as well. Such changes will be aimed at consolidating the role of deputies and deputy’s groups in legislative activity. Concerning the foreign economic conditions under which the deputies of the sixth convocation resumed their work, the Chairman of Mazhilis made a particular focus on the specific character of “the Kazakhstan’s way” under the guidance of the Head of the State and Leader of the nation Mr Nursultan Nazarbayev. A special thing about this way lies in the fact that, even under the most complicated circumstances, all the time there are prospects for new opportunities, and all the time there is a clear specific action plan to follow so as to achieve success. “In fact, the whole 25-year-old history of our Independence has been a successful advance towards the better future as consistent with the strategic course of our President. And the present period of time constitutes no exception to this fact. Today, we have a programme on comprehensive anti-recessionary and structural reforms which will offer a fitting reply to challenges of this new global reality, allowing for the possibility that we could guarantee a sustainable growth of our economy amid complicated geopolitical circumstances. As a result, not only will we overcome new challenges, but we will also be able to get out of the crisis, becoming yet more stiffened and competitive”, concluded the Chairman of Mazhilis. 

In the today’s joint session of the both Houses, the Parliament has adopted a resolution to declare the first session of the sixth convocation closed and a parliamentary recess for the period of July 1 to August 31, 2016. In conclusion of the joint session, the national anthem of the Republic of Kazakhstan was sung.

(Olga Abramova, 74-68-44, a picture by Sailau Mailybayev. Distributed by the press relations service of  the Mazhilis Office).