Chairman of the Senate Maulen Ashimbayev met with Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights Matteo Mecacci. The sides discussed the democratic reforms being implemented in our country and the issues of developing cooperation between the Senate and the Office.
The interlocutors believe that the exchange of experience in the implementation of democratic reforms is one of the main directions of cooperation.
“In our country, at the initiative of the Head of State, comprehensive and systemic reforms are carried out in all areas. Above all, the matter concerns democratization of the political system, ensuring its openness, raising political competition, creation of necessary conditions for the realization of rights of citizens. We have already adopted a large package of laws aimed at further modernization of the national political system,” Maulen Ashimbayev said.
The Senate Speaker also reminded that at the PACE autumn session, a group of deputies adopted the written declaration “The political reform in Kazakhstan meets the needs and aspirations of its citizens”. The Chairman of the House emphasized that deputies are actively working on the legislative support of political reforms being implemented in the country and, at present, parliamentarians have the task to implement already the fourth package of the President’s reforms.
“In the Address of the President, the need for legislative consolidation of the provision on compulsory accounting of 30% quota for women and young people in the distribution of deputy mandates was indicated. It was proposed to expand the list of quota categories of citizens and to include in the electoral lists an obligatory quota for people with special needs. The Head of the State stressed the importance of developing an effective mechanism to support citizen initiatives in rural areas,” the Senate Speaker said.
The interlocutors noted the significant prospects for cooperation between Kazakhstan and the OSCE in the field of realization of human rights, pointing out that last week Kazakhstan was elected a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council for 2022 - 2024.
“The election of our country to the main human rights body of the world organization is an acknowledgment of its role as an active and responsible participant of the process of promoting international norms and standards in the field of protection of human rights and freedoms,” Maulen Ashimbayev concluded.
In turn, Matteo Mecacci highly appreciated the efforts of Kazakhstan in the sphere of ensuring human rights and further democratization of the national political system.
(Press Office of the Senate, 74-72-27. Photo by E. Ukibayev)
