Archive · 2014 · From the print edition of Tuesday 11 March 2014, Vol. 21, No. 6,572
CourtsCourt Declines Term-Limits Challenge
The Supreme Court says that last year's amendment removing the two-term limit on governors is a matter for the legislature.
TALAS — The Supreme Court yesterday declined to hear a challenge to last year's amendment to the Elective Governor Acts that removed the limit of two consecutive terms for a Governor, holding that the question belonged to the legislature.
The petitioners, a group of lawyers and voters from Talas, argued that the 1992 Acts form part of the basic law of the ISEZ and that the limit could not be lifted by an ordinary vote that benefited the sitting Governor. Under the prevailing reading of the Acts, Governor Erlan Toktarov's tenure from 2007 to 2011 counted as his first term, and he would have been barred from standing in 2015. The amendment passed in June 2013 by 53 votes to 4, with three abstentions; the Russo-aligned deputies from Nurzhan voted against it.
In a short order, the five-member court said that the length and number of gubernatorial terms were matters for the Territorial Legislature and that it would not substitute its judgment for that of the chamber. A lawyer for the petitioners said they had no further remedy in the ISEZ courts. A DPI spokesman welcomed the decision as "respect for the separation of powers". The Governor has not said whether he will stand next year.