BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 11
Trend:
Urgent adjustments are necessary to be made in the reform of the law enforcement system in Kazakhstan, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said, Trend reports via Kazinform.
Tokayev made the statement at the meeting of the Parliament’s Mazhilis (lower house).
According to the president, the Armed Forces, law enforcement and national security agencies, as well as foreign intelligence of Kazakhstan should work in coordination for the maximum effective protection of its citizens, the constitutional order, sovereignty under threat of any nature and scale.
Achievement of the goal is required by the fundamental interests of the country, he emphasized.
“To solve this task, first of all, it’s necessary to make urgent adjustments to reforms of the law enforcement system. We have made significant progress in creating a service model for the police and modernizing criminal proceedings,” Tokayev said.
Kazakhstan's government announced late Jan. 4 that it was restoring some price caps on liquefied petroleum gas, after the rare protests reached Almaty following a sharp rise in the price of the fuel at the start of the year.
Many Kazakhs have converted their cars to run on LPG, which is far cheaper than gasoline as a vehicle fuel in Kazakhstan because of price caps. But the government argued that the low price was unsustainable and lifted the caps on Jan. 1.
After the price of the fuel spiked, big demonstrations erupted on Jan. 2 in certain parts of the country. Public protests are illegal in the country unless their organizers file a notice in advance.
Following the development of the situation, the government declared a state of emergency all over the country. Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said the government initiated anti-terrorist operations to deal with the ongoing riots.
Also, the divisions of the united peacekeeping contingent of CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organization) arrived in Kazakhstan to assist in restoring order and help protect strategic objects of the country.