Działalność

The Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Warsaw held an academic conference on the recent extensive amendments to the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the constitutional law of the country. The attendees of the conference included Polish and Kazakhstani parliamentarians, lawyers – experts in constitutional law, economic activists and representatives of other subjects involved in the development of Polish-Kazakhstani cooperation. The session was opened by Alim Kirabayev, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Warsaw, and the moderators were Dr Jerzy Olędzki – an expert of the ‘Michal Boym Institute for Asian and Global Studies’ Foundation in Warsaw, and Dr Władysław Sokołowski – the President of the ‘My Kazakhstan’ Association, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Poland in Kazakhstan in the years 2004–2007, and Ambassador of the Friendship Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan.

Prof. UZ Andrzej Bisztyga, Ph.D. – Head of the Department of Constitutional, European and Public International Law at the Institute of Law Studies of the University of Zielona Góra presented a paper entitled ‘Amendments to the Constitution and electoral law of the Republic of Kazakhstan in 2022–2023’ and took an active part in the discussion. In his speech, Prof. Andrzej Bisztyga pointed out i.a. that the adopted constitutional reforms are intended to improve the competitiveness and transparency of the political process. However, it is important to monitor the ongoing implementation stage of the political system practice reform. Prof. A. Bisztyga posed the question as to what extent the implemented reforms will meet the social expectations of Kazakhstanis and to what extent their practical implementation will contribute to the construction of open civil society in Kazakhstan. Prof. Andrzej Bisztyga noted i.a. that ‘these reforms concern a significant number of constitutional institutions and individual freedoms and rights and their guarantees. By design, the adopted changes aim towards an evolution from a super-presidential to a presidential-parliamentary system of government. It is important to ensure that these reforms will not be reduced to a purely technical dimension in practice. A conditio sine qua non for the actual long-term effect of the reforms is the creation of an environment of a real dialogue between social partners such as political parties, trade unions, local government bodies and NGOs. Therefore, we should speak of an evolutionary, step-by-step reform of the state-political system, which requires continuity and consistency. The success of the reform depends on the determination of the state authorities and Kazakhstani society itself. The principle of political pluralism is an immanent element of democracy. After all, there is no democracy without a systemic acceptance of the presence and functioning of political opposition, including parliamentary opposition.’

Conference speakers included: Alim Kirabayev – Ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Warsaw, Prof. Piotr Zientarski – Member of the Polish Sejm, Deputy Head for Kazakh-Polish Parliamentary Group, Snezhana Imasheva – Head of the ‘Poland-Kazakhstan’ Parliamentary Group, Radosław Darski – Deputy Director of Eastern Department of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bolat Nurgaliyev – Head of the Council of the Institute of Foreign Policy Studies at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Kazimierz Kleina – Senator of the Republic of Poland, observer of the Mäjilis and Maslichat elections in March 2023, Larissa Jumagaliyeva – Deputy Head of the Investment Committee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Janusz Piechociński – President of the Polish-Asian Chamber of Commerce, Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Economy 2012–2015, Prof. UZ Dr. Andrzej Bisztyga – Director of the Institute of Law Studies, at the University of Zielona Góra, Honorary Doctor of the Eurasian Academy of Law in Almaty and the National University in Shymkent, author of legal opinions on legal system reforms in the Republic of Kazakhstan, Józef Bryll – President of the Poland-East Cooperation Association, Prof. Dr. Jacek Sobczak – Institute of Law Studies, University of Economics and Human Sciences in Warsaw and Dr. Jerzy Olędzki from the Boym Institute. In addition to the speakers, the discussion was attended by Aleksander Prokopiuk – Honorary Consul of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Białystok, Artur Nizioł – Honorary Consul of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Katowice, Daniyar Seidaliyev – Counsellor of the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Warsaw, Prof. UW Dr. Ksenia Kakareko – Faculty of Journalism, Information and Book Studies,  Elżbieta Bodio – Polish-Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Professor Gulnara Alibayeva - Vicerector of Euasian Law Academy named after Kunayev in Almaty. The session was attended by visiting students from the University of Aktobe, Kazakhstan. The speakers' presentations provided the backdrop for a long and lively discussion. The impetus for organising the conference were the elections to the Mäjilis and Maslichat, held on 19 March 2023. The conference was held on 28 of March 2023 at the Regent Hotel in Warsaw.