Public hearings on the petition to abolish the single time zone in Kazakhstan were held at the Ministry of Trade and Integration.
According to the ministry, only 50 people were allowed in for public consideration, explaining that the hall cannot accommodate more people. Additionally, due to a lack of space in the hall, journalists were not present at the public hearings.
The ministry stated that all interested parties would be able to watch the discussion online.
"We initially planned the hearings at EXPO because our ministry has a very small hall. We booked it, but then the booking was cancelled, explaining that a meeting with the president would be taking place there (a visit from the President of Congo was scheduled for 2-3 August). And in the last week, we found what we found. Everything is full everywhere," explained the ministry's press service.
In turn, Bes.media reports that, as a result, the ministry's decision was to preliminarily reject the petition. This conclusion was supposedly reached because the arguments about the negative impact on people's health, as stated in the petition, were not confirmed.
"The applicants' arguments that it affected health or energy consumption have not been confirmed. Therefore, I am now announcing the preliminary decision. It is: to refuse the petition," said Vice-Minister of Trade Kairat Balykbayev.
For context, in autumn 2023, during a plenary session, Majilis deputy Erkin Abil proposed switching Kazakhstan to a single time zone. On 19 January, changes were made to the government decree, according to which the unified time zone UTC+5 came into effect across the country from 1 March.
Later, some Kazakh citizens began to advocate for a return to the previous time, and the petition for the abolition of the single time zone in Kazakhstan gathered 50,000 signatures.
In addition, a number of experts concluded that the introduction of a single time zone in Kazakhstan negatively affects the mental and physical condition of people. The President of the Kazakhstan Association of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, psychologist Evgeny Yan, told the FBRK editorial office about this.
At the same time, the initiator of the introduction of the single time, Deputy Erkin Abil, stated in an interview with journalists that he does not consider substantial the arguments to turn the clocks back. In his opinion, it is too early to draw conclusions. However, the deputy admitted that he could be mistaken in his initiative.
Meanwhile, the head of the scientific and technical park of Asfendiyarov KazNMU, Ildar Fakhradiyev, claimed that expert studies found no negative consequences after the transition to a single time zone. According to him, they supposedly, on the contrary, confirm its positive impact on the health and well-being of the population.