January 1,2006

TABLE 8.1 Administrative and Territorial Units in Kazakhstan, January 1, 2006

Cities and towns Counties Rural settlements

Subordinate Subordinate Territory Oblasts/rayons Total to oblasts to rayons Towns Villages Towns Villages

Republic ofKazakhstan 168a 86 39 45 161 2,336 167 7,262 Akmolinskaya 17 10 2 8 13 245 14 669 Aktubinskaya 12 8 1 7 2 136 2 424 Almatinskaya 16 10 3 7 14 237 15 769 Atyrauskaya 7 2 1 1 11 62 11 184 East Kazakhstan 15 10 6 4 24 231 25 826 Zhambylskaya 10 4 1 3 10 143 12 367 West Kazakhstan 12 2 1 1 5 154 5 477 Karagandinskaya 9 11 9 2 38 168 39 498 Kostanayskaya 16 5 4 1 8 255 8 740 Kyzylordinskaya 7 3 1 2 12 133 12 265 Mangistauskaya 4 3 2 1 5 32 5 48 Pavlodarskaya 10 3 3 n.a. 6 166 6 403 North Kazakhstan 13 5 1 4 n.a. 204 n.a. 727 South Kazakhstan 12 8 4 4 11 170 11 865 Almaty cityb 6 1 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. Astana cityb 2 1 n.a. n.a. 2 n.a. 2 n.a.

Source: Republic ofKazakhstan Statistical Agency. Note: n.a. = not applicable. a. Including eight rayons within cities. b. The cities Almaty and Astana have a special status. 278

Meruert Makhmutova

Local Government Organization and Finance: Kazakhstan 279

to implement this will,and controls that implementation in accordance with legislation.Villages and small towns do not have maslikhats.

Other powers are granted to the local executive and representative bodies ofthose cities in the Law on the Status ofthe Capital City ofKazakhstan and the Law on the Special Status ofAlmaty City.

The president appoints akims ofoblasts and ofthe cities ofAlmaty and Astana,after nominations are submitted by the prime minister.The power ofthe president over akims takes priority over the power ofthe government, in conformity with the right ofthe president “to dismiss akims on his own decision”(article 87 ofthe 1995 constitution).

Parliamentary control over the activity oflocal government bodies is not stipulated by the legislation.The Senate has the right to preschedule the dissolution ofthe maslikhat at the request ofthe prosecutor general.The government controls the implementation ofthe laws within the constitutional powers.The Ministry ofJustice and its territorial divisions register the acts oflocal bodies.Bodies specified by the central government,as well as other bodies,supervise the subdivisions oflocal executive bodies.

Because the executive bodies are structured vertically,so,correspondingly,is control carried out from upper to lower levels.The hierarchy subordinates the lower body to the higher one and ensures that implementing decisions are directed from the higher bodies to the lower ones.

Maslikhats are not bound by the vertical correlations,but the decisions ofthe higher maslikhats are binding.Decisions ofmaslikhats that do not comply with the constitution and legislation ofthe Republic ofKazakhstan can be canceled by the maslikhat itselfor in a legal proceeding.

The akimat issues regulations signed by the akim.The akim issues regulatory and legal decisions,as well as regulations on administrative and managerial matters and on urgent and individual problems.The acts ofthe akimat and akim are binding on the whole territory ofthe administrative and territorial unit (article 37 ofthe Law on Local Public Administration). Acts that concern the rights,freedoms,and obligations ofcitizens (except acts containing state secrets ofthe Republic ofKazakhstan and other secrets protected by law) must be published officially in newspapers and other periodicals specified by maslikhats and akims.Acts that have common power or interdepartmental character or that concern the rights and obligations of citizens are subject to state registration by the territorial administrations of the Ministry ofJustice ofthe Republic ofKazakhstan,according to the legislative procedures.The validity ofakimats’and akims’acts can be suspended completely or partially by the president,thegovernment ofthe

280 Meruert Makhmutova

Republic ofKazakhstan,a higher-level akimat or akim,or the akimat or akim themselves,as well as by a court decision.

Regulatory legal acts oflocal representative and executive bodies are enforced after being signed by the authorized officials.The local representative bodies,or maslikhats,express the will ofthe population ofthe respective territories.They consider general state interests to identify measures required for realizing those interests and controlling the implementation of those measures (article 86 ofthe 1995 constitution).

Maslikhats are elected for four-year terms directly by the population of the respective territories.The number ofdeputies in a maslikhat is determined by the central election commission ofthe Republic ofKazakhstan within the following limits:for the oblast-level maslikhat and maslikhats of Astana and Almaty,up to 50 deputies;for the city-level maslikhat,up to 30; for the rayon-level maslikhat,up to 25.

The local executive body is headed by the akim ofthe respective territory,who simultaneously represents the president and the government (according to article 87 ofthe 1995 constitution).At the request ofthe prime minister,the president nominates akims ofoblasts and ofAlmaty and Astana.The president also dismisses them.The authority ofakims expires when a new president is elected,but they continue to perform their functions until a new akim is nominated.Akims ofother territories are nominated or elected in accordance with the procedure determined by the president.Until recently,all the lower-level akims were nominated by akims ofthe next higher level:the akims ofAlmaty and Astana nominated the akims ofthe city rayons;the oblast-level akims nominated the rayon-level akims and akims for oblast-level cities;and the rayon-level akims nominated the akims for villages and settlements.However,in the fall of2001,in accordance with the decree ofthe president,experimental elections ofvillage district akims took place:two akims in 14 oblasts were elected in indirect elections.

Many mistakenly assumed that pilot elections ofakims in 28 village districts signified a creation ofa local self-government (Makhmutova 2004). Those elections did not result in any change,though.Any elected akim,as before,represents the government:he or she is a government employee who is subordinate to a rayon akim and is a staffer ofthe rayon akimat.It was assumed that akims would be elected for a two-year term.By now their terms have lapsed,but the government does not comment on the success or failure ofthe pilot elections.

Figure 8.1 shows the structure ofthe government administration in Kazakhstan.