Kazakhstan Vice President Gains Authority to Direct Government Agencies

September 5, 2026 at 01:10 PM2 min

This digest was compiled by AI from multiple sources — links to the originals are below.

Kazakhstan's vice president has been granted authority to issue directives to central and local executive bodies under a presidential decree dated September 5, 2026. The decree also allows the vice president to issue orders, request documents, and form interagency working groups. The role remains subordinate to the president, who defines the vice president's powers.

Key Facts

The decree is based on paragraph 3 of Article 49 of the new Constitution of Kazakhstan and the Constitutional Law 'On the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan'.
The vice president may issue directives to ministries and akimats on matters within his competence.
The vice president will oversee the Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Studies under the President and lead the Secretariat of the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions.

Expanded Executive Powers

The vice president can now issue directives to central and local executive bodies on matters within his competence. He may also issue his own orders and request documents, information, and other necessary materials from state bodies and officials. Interagency working groups can be formed to prepare draft acts of the president and perform other tasks set by the head of state. The Constitution explicitly states that the vice president represents the president on his instructions and exercises powers determined by the head of state.

Strategic and International Role

The vice president must ensure the development and submission to the president of strategic initiatives in domestic and foreign policy. On the president's instructions, the vice president may represent him in interactions with the Kurultai, the Government, other state bodies, political parties, public associations, and international organizations. He will also participate in international events on the president's instructions. This concretizes the more general norm of the Constitution and the Constitutional Law 'On the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan', which previously defined the vice president's powers more briefly.

Supervision of Institutes and Councils

The vice president will oversee the activities of the Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Studies under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan. A separate function is leadership of the Secretariat of the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions.