A joint session of the Kazakhstani Parliament on 7 October adopted a new Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan "On Amendments and Complements to the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan" whereby the president's term in office would be extended from five to seven years. The age restrictions were also changed. From now on the President of the country may not be younger than 40 and the current upper age limit of 65 years has been removed.

In case of early resignation, for any reason, or death of the president, the chairman of the Senate, the upper house of Parliament, will take on presidential authority for the remaining term in office. If the chairman of the Senate is not able to take on presidential powers, then the chairman of the Majilis, the lower house of Parliament, will take on the authority; and in case that the latter is not able to take on the powers, the prime minister will be empowered. An empowered person will have limited rights to initiate amendments to the Kazakh Constitution.

Additionally, under these amendments, the term of Senate members was extended from four to six years and Majilis members from four to five years. The Majilis chamber will be composed of 77 deputies of whom 67 will be elected on a territorial basis while 10 deputies will be put forward by political parties. Generally, the amendments strengthen the role of the Kazakhstani Parliament. (Kazakhstanskaya Pravda)

A joint session of the Kazakh Parliament on 8 October voted for holding early presidential elections on 10 January 1999. The elections were originally to have taken place in December 2000 as President Nursultan Nazarbaev, who became president of independent Kazakhstan in 1991, had extended his term to the year 2000 in a referendum. (Reuters)

The Kazakh government has announced a programme of massive bankruptcies aimed at stimulating business activities by changing owners, the Deputy Finance Minister, Orazaly Yerzhanov, told Reuters. The first phase will involve 70 enterprises. "Some 1,000 firms will run into bankruptcy this year." Most enterprises awaiting this procedure are machine-building plants and light and food industries. Yerzhanov said that new owners would be relieved of all the debts of the loss making companies which they bought. Some of these companies may benefit from governmental support. (Reuters)

According to the State Committee for Statistics & Analysis, there was a 0.1pp deflation in Kazakhstan in September. Over the first nine months of 1998, the consumer prices index totalled 2.3%. Prices for food decreased by 0.5pp compared with the previous month. Prices for non-food goods increased slightly by 0.1pp and for services by 0.5pp. Since the beginning of the year, prices for both food and non-food products increased by 0.1pp while services became dearer by 9.3pp. (Reuters