Kazakhstan mulls expanding President’s powers in defence planning

NUR-SULTAN, Kazakhstan – The Ministry of Defense of Kazakhstan has created a bill to expand the powers of the country’s president in case of martial law,
Murat Bektanov, First Deputy Minister of Defense, Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Kazakhstan said on 15 January, adding that the new bill is necessary to adequately respond to the country’s defense capabilities to modern challenges and threats.
“The ministry proposes to expand the president’s powers with new rules for defense planning,” Bektanov said during the presentation of the bill at the plenary session of the Mazhilis, the lower house of Kazakhstan’s Parliament.
Also on 15 January, Kazakhstan President Kasym Zhomart Tokayev, speaking to representatives of the presidential youth personnel reserve in Akorda, said that due to the crisis in the Middle East, Kazakhstan needs to work to strengthen security.
According to him, the coming decades will be very difficult. “Different development models, different perceptions of the world structure and national interests lead to open clashes between individual countries and groups of states. As a good example, we can cite the alarming situation in the Persian Gulf and, in general, in the Middle East,” Tokayev said.
The world is so interconnected that the consequences of the crisis in one region will be experienced by all countries, he said, adding: “We must work more actively on socio-economic development and strengthening the security of our country.”