During the work on the new version of the Constitution of Kazakhstan, changes were made to the wording concerning the use of the Russian language. This was reported by Bakyt Nurmukhanov, Deputy Chairman of the Constitutional Court, during the tenth meeting of the working group.
The changes pertain to Article 9. In the initial version presented on January 31, it was stated that the Russian language is used "on par" with the Kazakh language in state institutions and local government bodies. However, in the final version, this wording was changed.
Nurmakhanov explained that the word "тең" (equal) was replaced with "қатар" (alongside), which changes the meaning to "alongside." Thus, in the final text, "on par" is replaced with "alongside."
He noted that the amendments made are editorial and stylistic. The main task was to achieve consistency in terminology and meaning throughout the document.
The work on the new Constitution was carried out by a broad expert group, which included representatives from both the executive and legislative branches, staff from the Presidential Administration, as well as leading legal scholars and linguists from the country.
