London, September 7, 2026—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Kazakhstan’s newly inaugurated parliament, or Kurultai, to scrap
new rules that restrict
journalists’ movements in the parliament building and limit their ability to question politicians.
The unicameral parliament, established by a new constitution
passed
earlier this year, was inaugurated on August 28. The new rules,
reported
by local media and rights groups, have been introduced amid
an intensifying crackdown
on independent media in the country.
In a
Facebook post
on September 2, Bolat Kalyanbekov, deputy head of the Kurultai administrative office, said under new rules journalists would only be allowed to contact parliamentary deputies and government officials inside the parliament building during scheduled briefings in the press center. Previously, accredited journalists were allowed to talk freely to deputies in the halls and corridors.
Kalyanbekov said that under what he called the “new format,” journalists would also only be allowed to ask questions related to the briefings’ specific agendas
.
“President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said the creation of a unicameral parliament was part of a democratization drive. But these new restrictions, hot on the heels of the media crackdown that preceded August’s parliamentary elections, are yet another sign that conditions for Kazakh journalists are deteriorating rapidly,” said Fiona O’Brien, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia regional director. “Journalists must be free to question politicians and hold them to account; this watchdog role is critical in a democracy and Kazakhstan’s new parliament should respect it and repeal any rules that limit it.”
In a
statement
, four local media advocacy and human rights organizations expressed concern over the changes, stressing that it was normal media practice in democracies to allow journalists’ to “quickly approach a deputy after a sitting, ask a clarifying or inconvenient question, and obtain
