Kazakhstan 1995 Constitution (reviewed 2017)

Section III. The President

Article 40

1. The President of the Republic of Kazakhstan shall be the head of state, its highest official determining the main directions of the domestic and foreign policy of the state and representing Kazakhstan within the country and in international relations.
2. The President of the Republic shall be the symbol and guarantor of the unity of the people and the state power, inviolability of the Constitution, rights and freedoms of an individual and citizen.
3. The President of the Republic shall ensure by his arbitration concerted functioning of all branches of state power and responsibility of the institutions of power before the people.

Article 41

1. The President of the Republic shall be elected by universal, equal and direct suffrage under secret ballot for five-year term in accordance with the constitutional law by the citizens of the Republic who have come of age.
2. A citizen of the Republic by birth who is not younger than forty, has a perfect command of the state language, has lived in Kazakhstan for not less than fifteen years and has higher education may be eligible for the office of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The Constitutional Law may establish additional requirements for presidential candidates.
3. Regular elections of the President of the Republic shall be held on the first Sunday of December and shall not coincide with the election of new Parliament of the Republic.
4. Preterm presidential elections are assigned by Decree of President of the Republic and are hold in order and terms, established by constitutional law.
5. The candidate who receives more than 50 percent of the votes of the constituents that took part in the election shall be deemed elected. If none of the candidates receives the above number of votes, second round of elections shall be held between the two candidates who obtained the largest number of votes. The candidate who receives the larger number of votes of the constituents who take part in the second round of elections shall be deemed elected.

Article 42

1. The President of the Republic of Kazakhstan shall take office from the moment of swearing to the people the following oath: “I solemnly swear that will faithfully serve the people of Kazakhstan, strictly observe the Constitution and the laws of the Republic of Kazakhstan, guarantee the rights and freedoms of the citizens, honestly perform the high duties of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan entrusted to me.”
2. The oath shall be taken on the second Wednesday of January in ceremonial atmosphere in the presence of the deputies of Parliament, the members of the Constitutional Council, the judges of the Supreme Court as well as all former Presidents of the Republic. In case, stipulated by Article 48 of the Constitution, the oath shall be taken by person who has taken the powers of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan within one month since taking the powers of the President of the Republic.
3. The powers of the President of the Republic shall terminate from the moment the newly elected President of the Republic takes office as well as in the case of premature release from office, resignation or death. All former Presidents of the Republic except those who were discharged from office shall have the title of ex-President of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
4. [deleted by law of 10 July 1998 N 284-I]
5. One and the same person may not be elected the President of the Republic more than two times in row. The present restriction shall not extend on the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Article 43

1. The President of the Republic of Kazakhstan shall not have the right to be deputy of representative body, hold other paid offices and engage in entrepreneurial-activity.
2. [deleted by the law of 21 May 2007 N 254-III]

Article 44

1. The President of the Republic of Kazakhstan shall:
   1. annually address the people of Kazakhstan with message on the state of the country and main directions of the domestic and foreign policy of the Republic of Kazakhstan;
   2. appoint regular and extraordinary elections to the Parliament of the Republic and its Chambers; convene the first session of the Parliament and accept the oath of its deputies to the people of Kazakhstan; call extraordinary session of the Parliament; sign laws submitted by the Senate of the Parliament within one month, promulgate the law or return the law or its separate articles for a second discussion and vote;
   3. after consultation with the factions of political parties represented in the Majilis of the Parliament, submit to the Majilis for consent the candidacy of the Prime Minister; appoint a Prime Minister of the Republic with the consent of the Majilis of the Parliament; release a Prime-Minister from office; as proposed by the Prime Minister define the structure of the Government; appoint members of the Government as proposed by the Prime-Minister followed by consultation with the Majilis of the Parliament; independently appoint ministers of foreign affairs and defence, and internal affairs; dismisses members of the Government; receive the oath of members of the Government; preside at meetings of the Government on crucial matters if necessary; annul or suspend entirely or in part acts of akims of oblasts, cities of national significance and the capital;
   4. appoint the Chairperson of the National Bank, the Procurator General and the Chairperson of Committee of National security of the Republic of Kazakhstan with the consent of the Senate of the Parliament; release them from office;
   5. form, abolish and reorganize the state bodies directly subordinated and accountable to the President of the Republic, appoint and release their heads from office;
   6. appoint and recall heads of diplomatic representative offices of the Republic;
   7. appoint the Chairperson and two members of the Central election committee, the Chairperson and two members of the Accounts Committee for control over execution of the republican budget for a five year term;
   8. [deleted by the law of 10 March 2017 N 51-VI 3PK];
   9. [deleted by the law of 10 March 2017 N 51-VI 3PK];
   10. adopt resolution on conducting the all-nation referendum;
   11. in order to protect the rights and freedoms of an individual and citizen, ensure national security, sovereignty and integrity of the state, sends a request to the Constitutional Council to consider if an enacted law or other legal act is in conformity with the Constitution of the Republic, to issue an opinion in a case specified in paragraph 3 of Article 91 of the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan;
   12. conduct negotiations and sign international treaties of the Republic; sign ratification instruments; receive letters of credentials and recall from diplomatic and other representatives of foreign states accredited to him;
   13. act as the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Republic, appoint and replace the highest command of the Armed Forces;
   14. award state decorations of the Republic and confer honorary, highest military and other ranks, ranked positions, diplomatic ranks and qualification degrees;
   15. resolve issues of citizenship of the Republic, and political asylum;
   16. exercise pardon of citizens;
   17. in the event of serious and immediate threat to the democratic institutions of the Republic, its independence and territorial integrity, political stability of the Republic, security of its citizens and the disruption of normal functioning of the Constitutional bodies of the state, the President shall have official consultation with Prime Minister and Chairpersons of the Parliamentary Chambers of the Republic and take measures, caused by state of emergency on the entire territory or in particular areas of Kazakhstan, and immediately inform the Parliament of the use of the Armed Forces of the Republic;
   18. in the case of aggression against the Republic or immediate external threat to its security, the President shall impose martial law on the entire territory of the Republic or in particular areas, declare partial or total mobilization and immediately inform the Parliament of the Republic to the effect;
   19. forms State Security Service subordinate to him;
   20. appoint to and release from office the State Secretary of the Republic of Kazakhstan, define his status and powers; form the administration of the President of the Republic;
   21. form the Security Council, the Higher Judicial Council and other consultative and advisory bodies;
   22. exercise other powers in accordance with the Constitution and the laws of the Republic.

Article 45

1. The President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, on the basis of and with the exercise of the Constitution and the laws, shall issue decrees and resolutions which are binding on the entire territory of the Republic.
2. [deleted by the law of 10 March 2017 N 51-VI 3PK];
3. The acts of Parliament signed by the President of the Republic as well as the acts of the President issued on the initiative of the Government shall be preliminary signed respectively by the Chairperson of each Parliaments Chambers or the Prime Minister on whom bear juridical responsibility for the legality of these acts.

Article 46

1. The President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, his honour and dignity shall be inviolable.
2. Provision, service, and guard of the President of the Republic and his family shall be carried out at the state’s expense.
3. The provisions of this article shall extend to ex-Presidents of the Republic.
4. The status and powers of the First President of Kazakhstan shall determine by the Constitution of the Republic and the constitutional law.

Article 47

1. The President of the Republic of Kazakhstan may be prematurely released from office in the case of continued incapacity to perform his duties due to illness. In this case the Parliament shall form commission consisting of equal numbers of deputies from each Chamber and specialists of the respective areas of medicine. The decision of premature release based on the conclusion of the commission and that of the Constitutional Council confirming observance of the established constitutional procedures shall be adopted at joint sitting of the Parliament’s Chambers by the majority of no less than three-fourths from the total number of deputies of each Chamber.
2. The President of the Republic shall bear responsibility for the actions performed while exercising his duties and only in the case of high treason may be discharged from office by Parliament. The decision to bring an accusation and conduct its investigation may be adopted by the majority of the deputies of the Majilis at the initiative of no less than one-third of the total number of its deputies. Investigation of the accusation shall be organized by the Senate and by the majority of votes of the total number of the deputies of the Senate its results are transferred for consideration at joint session of the Parliament’s Chambers. The final decision of this issue shall be adopted at joint session of the Parliament’s Chambers by the majority of no less than three-fourths of the total number of the deputies of each Chamber, provided the Supreme Court concludes the validity of the accusation and conclusion by the Constitutional Council that the established constitutional procedures were observed. The failure to arrive at final decision within two months from the moment of the accusation shall result in the recognition that the accusation against the President of the Republic is rejected. Rejection of the accusation of the President of the Republic in perpetration of high treason at any stage shall result in premature termination of the powers of the deputies of the Majilis who initiated the consideration of this issue.
3. The issue of discharge of the President of the Republic from office may not be initiated in the period when the President is considering premature termination of the powers of the Parliament of the Republic or the Majilis of the Parliament.

Article 48

1. In case of premature release or discharge of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan from office as well as in case of his death the powers of the President of the Republic shall be transmitted to the Chairperson of the Senate of the Parliament for the rest of the term; if the Chairperson of the Senate is unable to assume the powers of the President they shall be transmitted to the Chairperson of the Majilis of the Parliament; if the Chairperson of the Majilis is unable to assume the powers of the President they shall be transmitted to the Prime Minister of the Republic. person who has taken the powers of the President of the Republic shall correspondingly withdraw his powers of the Chairperson of the Senate, the Majilis, the Prime Minister. In this case filling of those state positions shall be carried out in the order, stipulated by the Constitution.
2. A person who has taken the powers of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, on the basis and in the order stipulated by Paragraph of the present Article, has no right to initiate amendments and additions to the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan.