Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has promised a fundamental reshaping of the Central Asian nation under a new constitution that takes effect on Wednesday. The new basic law, approved by referendum in March, creates a new post of vice-president and requires the holding of a snap election in August to a new, smaller parliament.
Constitutional Changes
The constitution was drafted and approved in a matter of weeks this year, sparking widespread speculation about Tokayev’s political future. Whoever becomes vice-president will be first in line to succeed the former diplomat and United Nations official, who took office in 2019 as the handpicked successor of Kazakhstan’s founding president, Nursultan Nazarbayev.
The new constitution represents a new mechanism for handing over power from the second president to the third, according to political analyst Rustam Burnashev. Tokayev has broadly retained Nazarbayev’s authoritarian system, but their relationship broke down in 2022 after a bout of nationwide unrest killed hundreds.
Original reporting: Appleton, WI News Feed (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
