African experts interested in experience of reforms in Kazakhstan

The results of the parliamentary elections and the implementation of political and economic reforms in Kazakhstan were on the agenda of the meeting of the Ambassador of Kazakhstan, Permanent Representative to the African Union Barlybay Sadykov with African experts, El.kz cites MFA.

The seminar, organized at the Embassy of Kazakhstan, was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Parliament of Ethiopia, ambassadors of African countries, experts of analytical centers – the Center for Dialogue, Research and Cooperation, the Foreign Policy Institute of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, political scientists, African NGOs, as well as journalists of the Ethiopian media.

Ambassador Sadykov informed about the preliminary results of the election, according to which six of the seven parties participated in the election were elected to the new parliament. He noted that the formation of the first multiparty parliament after 1995 became possible because of the constitutional legislative changes and reforms carried out in recent years in Kazakhstan by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

The participants were interested in the mechanism of decision-making on the transformation of the political and economic systems in Kazakhstan towards greater democratization, demonopolization and strengthening of the rule of law.

Like in Kazakhstan, in many African countries, the development of the rule of law and democratic values is a very urgent issue of further state development and an indispensable condition for economic prosperity. According to the Africa Development Agenda 2063, achieving the Sustainable Development Goals is impossible without effective institutions of good governance, democracy, respect for human rights, the rule of law and justice.

In this regard, the experts stressed the special importance for them of studying Kazakhstan's experience of ongoing reforms, including the expansion and strengthening of the role of parliament, the progressive development of constitutional mechanisms to ensure human rights and freedoms, greater involvement of the population in government, while maintaining peace and tolerance in a multi-ethnic society.

Ambassador Tawfik Abdullahi Ahmed, Chairman of the Subcommittee on International Cooperation of the Parliament of Ethiopia, believes that competitive elections and a multiparty parliament in Kazakhstan will lead to an improvement in the quality of legislative decisions taken by it.

“The parliamentary elections showed three important changes that will significantly increase the efficiency of the parliament: firstly, it is the use of a mixed proportional-majority model, demonstrating the inclusiveness of the electoral process, secondly, people were given the right to vote ‘against all’, as well as persons with special needs, women and youth received a quota in the distribution of parliamentary mandates, thirdly, everyone has won from these elections, both the government and the opposition, which will be represented in parliament and form a multi-party system, by increasing the pluralism of opinions and the influence of opposition politics,” the Ethiopian deputy stressed.

In addition, Ambassador Ahmed noted the significant potential for expanding trade, economic, political, inter-parliamentary, cultural and humanitarian ties between the two countries. In this regard, he noted the importance of the agreements reached during bilateral political consultations and the first meeting of inter-parliamentary friendship groups.

According to Ambassador Dina Mufti, Director General of the Public Diplomacy Department of the MFA of Ethiopia, the reforms in Kazakhstan set a good example for other countries in terms of involving citizens in public administration.

“The reforms in Kazakhstan, in my opinion, are very successful, in terms of political and socio-economic achievements. Studying Kazakhstan's reforms can be very useful for us, because Ethiopia is also in the process of large-scale reforms. I would also like to congratulate the people of Kazakhstan on the successful holding of parliamentary elections. I am sure that the inclusive political and socio-economic reforms carried out in your country will become a good example for other countries of the world, and will contribute to strengthening bilateral relations between Kazakhstan and Ethiopia,” Ambassador Mufti said.

Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Ethiopian Herald newspaper Alem Hailu highly appreciated the results of the elections, which ensured political pluralism in Kazakhstan.

“First of all, the constitutional limitation of the term of office of the president, while increasing the role of parliament, as well as the creation of the constitutional court deserves great attention. All these changes in Kazakhstan taking into account the opinions of citizens, which also contributes to strengthening unity and equality in a multi-ethnic and multi-confessional society,” Hailu stressed.

In general, experts noted the progressive, inclusive and transparent nature of the ongoing reforms in Kazakhstan, and the great role of the multiparty parliament in the further development of a progressive legal framework for the socio-economic modernization of our country.

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