ASTANA. July 25 (Interfax) - A decree signed by the Kazakh President approving regulations for the State Security Service (SSS) does not remove protection from the country's ex-president Nursultan Nazarbayev, the head of the parliamentary committee for legislation and reform of the judiciary, Snezhanna Imasheva, told Interfax on Tuesday.
The decree, setting out changes to the regulations on the SSS, was signed on July 17, published in the standard databank of statutory acts on July 24 and will come into effect from August 4, 2023.
In particular, in the new version of the regulations, providing security for the country's First President (or Elbasy) and other protected individuals and facilities and organizing and coordinating security for protected individuals is no longer listed as a task of the SSS. Now, its first task is providing security for the president of Kazakhstan and other protected individuals.
The current law "On the president" stipulates protection for all ex-presidents, "which is why nothing has changed in this area," Imasheva said.
"As for 'Elbasy' and 'First President', these phrases were removed because all statutory acts, including the laws, are being brought in line with the Constitution. That's it," Imasheva said.
It was reported that the law titled "On the first president of the Republic of Kazakhstan - Elbasy," was scrapped in February 2023. The law stipulated a number of privileges for ex-president Nazarbayev and members of his family. The former president still retains the immunity guaranteed by the Constitution. Under the law "On the president of the Republic of Kazakhstan," Nazarbayev is provided with a serviced apartment and country residence, a security detail, a personal vehicle with chauffeurs, free transport nationally, medical care, and treatment at resorts and sanatoria.
Nazarbayev, who led Kazakhstan for some 30 years, turned 83 on July 6. He resigned in March 2019.