Initially, the ninth article of the draft stated that the Russian language is used "on par" with the Kazakh language in state institutions and local government bodies. Now, instead of this expression, the word "alongside" will be used. Deputy Chairman of the Constitutional Court Bakyt Nurmukhanov explained that this adjustment is editorial in nature and aimed at unifying terminology and improving translation accuracy. In the Kazakh text, the word "тең" ("equal") has been replaced with "қатар" ("alongside").
According to Nurmukhanov, the changes are editorial-stylistic in nature and aim to achieve unity in the terminology and semantics of the Constitution text.
In the current edition of Article 7 of the Constitution of Kazakhstan, the Russian language is officially used in state institutions and local government bodies alongside the Kazakh language, while the Kazakh language remains the only state language.
Discussion participants emphasize that the previous wording "on par" effectively equated the Russian language's status with that of the state language. The new word "alongside" emphasizes that the Kazakh language retains its status as the only state language, while the Russian language is used in addition to it, not possessing equal legal status and representing a language of interethnic communication.
