Kazakhstan changes constitution like Liepāja's tram route — theoretical improvements, more control in practice

Kazakhstan's president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev enthusiastically announced that citizens can vote in a referendum on a new constitution that will transform him from a "super-president" into a regular president. This is about as believable as a promise that Liepāja's tram will start running on schedule.

The new constitution provides that the president will unilaterally appoint the prosecutor general, judges, and all the most important officials. Previously, this required parliamentary consent, but now — why complicate things? This is as logical as deciding that Liepāja's only tram no longer needs a driver — the president will operate it remotely himself.

Even more interesting is the new rule about marriage — now it's clearly written in the constitution that it's only a union between a man and a woman. Apparently Kazakhstan believes that everything should be written in the constitution, even what was previously self-evident. In the next version, it will most likely be recorded that water is wet and that it's cold in winter.

A vice-presidential institution has also been created, because apparently one president isn't enough to control everything. Now there will be two — like Liepāja's tram has a driver and a conductor, even though there are sometimes only three passengers. Local Kazakh Nurlan comments: "Well, at least now it will be clear who's to blame if something doesn't go according to plan — the vice-president."