Concentration of the Presidential Government and Decentralization of Executive Bodies

The article is devoted to the analysis of the transformation of the presidential power of the Republic of Kazakhstan from the point of view of its concentration, understood as a process of increasing the volume of constitutional powers of the President, and deconcentration, which means a reduction of these powers, as society democratizes and entails the decentralization of executive power. Initially, the powers established by the Law on the Establishment of the post of President were representative in nature. After the adoption of the Declaration on State Sovereignty of the Kazakh SSR on October 25, 1990, the process of concentration of presidential power begins due to the recognition of the President as the head of the supreme executive and distributive power of the Kazakh SSR. He participates in the formation of the Government in coordination with the Supreme Council, has the right to prematurely dismiss the chairmen of regional Councils of People's Deputies, as well as preside over Government meetings. According to the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan of 1993, the President is empowered to create the Security Council and other advisory bodies, approve state programs and others. This increased the concentration of presidential power, which was greatly facilitated by the Constitution of 1995 and the constitutional reform of 1998. Having reached the peak of concentration by 2007, the presidential power on the constitutional reform of this year began the countdown to the process of its deconcentration. The constitutional reforms of 2017 and 2022 have contributed to this process. The deconcentration of presidential power has opened up the possibility for the decentralization of executive power. At the initiative of President K.K. Tokayev, the course in this direction was outlined by him in his Message to the People of Kazakhstan dated September 2, 2019. The constitutional foundations for the decentralization of executive power were provided for in the Law of June 8, 2022 "On Amendments and Additions" to the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan. This law provided for the legal grounds for the appointment of regional and elections of district and village akims.