Public Chamber established within Mazhilis

The dialogue platform for the rapprochement of government and society will be created in Kazakhstan. Today members of the Lower House of the Parliament approved the initiative to create a Public Chamber under the Mazhilis. This institution is expected to help form a culture of dialogue and public discussion that takes into account the opinions of representatives of political organizations, experts and social activists. They will review bills, conduct public examinations and give their independent opinion. Overall, the chamber will operate on a rotating basis, that is, its composition will change periodically.

“The main purpose of the Public Chamber is to discuss the top-of-the-agenda and resonant issues in terms of public opinion before their first reading. This is its main feature. Henceforth, when discussing high profile issues, regional public councils will participate via video chat. By doing so, we will be able to take into account the opinions of local residents. The composition of the Chamber will be changed on a systematic basis. Social activists will make the overwhelming majority, and not MPs. Maybe we'll call them constructive opposition. So let’s include them. Representatives of the non-governmental sector will also be involved,” said Yerlan Koshanov, Chairperson of Mazhilis.

Translation by Assem Zhanmukhanova