Kazakh leader proposes rolling back democratic reform

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Kazakhstan's president on Monday proposed reversing key democratic reforms that the country had introduced following deadly anti-government protests in 2022.

The Central Asian state was rocked by demonstrations against the high cost of living in January 2022, with the protests descending into riots after President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev ordered a "shoot-to-kill" policy, resulting in at least 238 deaths.

The ex-Soviet diplomat then used the unrest both to sideline his powerful predecessor, Nursultan Nazarbayev, and announce plans for political reforms.

But on Monday he rolled some of those back, proposing to scrap an electoral system that allows independent candidates to run for office and to abolish the country's senate in favour of a unicameral parliament.

He said the changes would be subject to a year-long consultation period and put to the nation in a referendum in 2027.

If the propositions are approved, parliament would "be elected solely through party lists", Tokayev said.

This would reverse the electoral system introduced in 2022, which allowed independent candidates to run in almost a third of seats in the lower house.

The change could potentially strengthen the ruling Amanat party.

"I have said many times that all issues of vital importance to the state will be decided only with the consent of the people," Tokayev, whose proposals are widely understood to be top-down directives, said.

Tokayev won presidential elections in 2019 and 2022 which did not feature any real opposition, and the most recent legislative election in 2023 produced a landslide majority for parties supportive of his rule.

Kazakhstan has amended its constitution six times since becoming independent from the Soviet Union in 1991 but critics say its electoral system remains far from democratic.