The Committee on Constitutional Legislation, State Structure, and Judicial-Legal Issues has reviewed and approved the draft law "On Amending the Law on the Regulations of the Jogorku Kenesh" in the second reading. The initiative was put forth by deputies Marlen Mamataliev and Nurlanbek Azygaliev, with the bill presented by the committee's chair Cholpon Sultanbekova.
The proposed law includes changes to the time frame for reviewing draft laws between the first and second readings, provisions for preparing consolidated law projects when alternative documents are submitted, procedures for considering draft resolutions, requirements for hearing information from the cabinet of ministers on socially significant issues, rescheduling the "Miscellaneous" section from Thursday to Wednesday to prioritize voter issues, reducing the response time to deputies' inquiries, aligning the law with the constitutional Law "On the Status of Judges," and addressing internal gaps and introducing clarifying norms.
Additionally, the current version states that faction members and deputy groups must inform the faction leader and deputy group leader in writing about planned business trips or other events three calendar days before the event. Deputy Meikinbek Abdaliev proposed changing this rule to electronic notification via Infodocs, WhatsApp, or SMS due to the digital age we live in.
In agreement with his colleague, Marlen Mamataliev, Abdaliev highlighted the implementation of a facial recognition and fingerprint-based voting system starting in 2026. The parliament's apparatus head, Alaybek Alymbayev, mentioned plans to launch the system in late 2025, fully operational by January 1, 2026, following internal procedures.
Deputy Dastan Bekeshev emphasized the need to remove the provision allowing parliamentarians to abstain from voting on draft laws, stressing the importance of accountability. Bekeshev cited instances where draft laws failed due to lack of quorum or votes, proposing that non-voting deputies should be considered absent to prevent evasion.
