Tokayev responds to critics of the new Constitution draft fueling language disputes

Tengrinews.kz — President Tokayev responded to critics of the new Constitution project who are fueling language disputes. He spoke about this during his address at the republican forum of maslikhat deputies of all levels in Astana.
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev recalled that, for the first time, the development of science and education, culture, and innovation is being defined as a constitutional principle of state activity. He noted that the provision on the secular nature of the state, particularly the education system, is of critical importance.

“Our country has great potential to become a center of attraction for talent and investment from around the world. This is an important part of the effort to improve the quality of human capital. Therefore, for the first time, it is proposed to enshrine the protection of intellectual property at the constitutional level, which will give new impetus to the development of the creative economy,” Kassym-Jomart Tokayev noted.

He added that especially important is the provision directly prohibiting laws from being applied retroactively if this worsens a person’s situation or imposes new obligations on them. This, he said, will help create a stable and predictable legal and investment environment in which citizens are protected and can confidently plan their lives and business activities.

“It is proposed to establish a special legal regime for certain territories and ‘accelerated development cities.’ In connection with this norm, messages have appeared about the alleged danger of violating the country’s territorial integrity. Such serious accusations come from legally illiterate people who have not even bothered to study international experience.By the way, the same applies to complaints about the alleged lowering of the status of the Russian language in the draft of the New Constitution. It is amusing to read articles of this kind full of stylistic and grammatical errors, whose authors claim to defend the Russian language while not really knowing it themselves,” the President said.

He stressed that the very fact that the text of the New Constitution was published in Kazakh and Russian, both of which have equal legal force as an official document, speaks for itself and requires neither comment nor, all the more, justification.

“Likewise, there is absolutely no need to stir up hysteria over the allegedly diminished status of the Kazakh language,” Kassym-Jomart Tokayev concluded.