Politics

The politics of Kazakhstan takes place in the framework of a presidential republic, whereby the President of Kazakhstan is head of state and nominates the head of government. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of parliament.

Political System

Kazakhstan is a constitutional republic with a strong presidency. The president is the head of state. The president also is the commander in chief of the armed forces and may veto legislation that has been passed by the Parliament. President Nursultan Nazarbayev, who has been in office since Kazakhstan became independent in 1991, won a new 7-year term in the 1999 election.

The prime minister chairs the Cabinet of Ministers and serves as Kazakhstan's head of government. There are three deputy prime ministers and 16 ministers in the Cabinet.

Kazakhstan has a bicameral Parliament, made up of the lower house (the Majilis) and upper house (the Senate). Single mandate districts popularly elect 67 seats in the Majilis; there also are 10 members elected by party-list vote rather than by single mandate districts. The Senate has 39 members. Two senators are selected by each of the elected assemblies (Maslikhats) of Kazakhstan's 16 principal administrative divisions (14 regions, or oblasts, plus the cities of Astana and Almaty). The president appoints the remaining seven senators. Majilis deputies and the government both have the right of legislative initiative, though the government proposes most legislation considered by the Parliament.

Kazakh Intelligence Services

Kazakhstan's National Security Committee (KNB) was established on 13 June 1992. It includes the Service of Internal Security, Military Counterintelligence, Border Guard, several Commando units, and Foreign Intelligence (Barlau). The latter is considered by many as the most important part of KNB.

Foreign Relations

Kazakhstan has stable relationships with all of its neighbours and is a member of the United Nations, Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council and Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC). It is an active participant in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation's (NATO) Partnership for Peace program. Kazakhstan is also a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation along with Russia, China, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Kazakhstan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan established the Eurasian Economic Community in 2000 to re-energise earlier efforts at harmonising trade tariffs and the creation of a free trade zone under a customs union.

Since independence in 1991, Kazakhstan has pursued what is known as the multidimensional foreign policy, seeking equally good relations with two large neighbours, Russia and China, and the United States and the West generally. The policy has yielded results in the oil and gas sector, where companies from the US, Russia, China, and Europe are present at all major fields, and in the multidimensional directions of oil export pipelines out of Kazakhstan.