Nursultan Nazarbayev is proven right here with Russian President Vladimir Putin in December 2021
Kazakhstan was set to cross adjustments to its structure by means of a referendum Sunday, exit polls confirmed, after lethal unrest ended founding chief Nursultan Nazarbayev’s three-decade grip on Central Asia’s richest nation.
Three exit polls confirmed constitutional adjustments passing with greater than 74 p.c of voters in help, a authorities Telegram channel stated, with official outcomes anticipated Monday.
The drive for a “New Kazakhstan” within the wake of the violence has come from the person that Nazarbayev hand-picked to interchange him as president in 2019, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
However it’s the absence of particular privileges for 81-year-old Nazarbayev that’s the most eye-catching change to the structure.
Even after stepping down as president, Nazarbayev retained the constitutional title of “Elbasy”, or “Chief of the Nation” — a task that afforded him affect over policymaking no matter his formal place.
One other modification prevents kin of the president from holding authorities positions — a transparent nod to the affect of Nazarbayev’s household and in-laws, who misplaced highly effective positions within the aftermath of the violence.
Kazakhstan’s central electoral fee claimed a preliminary turnout of 68.4 p.c for the vote.
Polling stations within the largest metropolis Almaty noticed a sluggish trickle of voters in cloudless, breezy summer season situations.
“He has his place in our historical past textbooks, however all residents needs to be equal within the structure,” he stated, after casting his vote at his college, the place a small group of activists protested for the discharge of political prisoners and towards the vote.
“It is a formality to cement the place of the present management. The consequence would be the similar,” he stated.
Protests stirred within the oil-producing west over a New Yr gasoline value hike, nevertheless it was Almaty — 2,000 kilometres (1,200 miles) away — that grew to become the epicentre of armed clashes, looting and arson.
– Management wrestle –
However the arrest on treason prices of a Nazarbayev ally who served as nationwide safety chief on the time fuelled hypothesis {that a} management wrestle was on the coronary heart of the violence.
Each former and present presidents are allies of neighbouring Russia, and the arrival of a 2,000-plus detachment of peacekeepers from a Moscow-led safety bloc bolstered Tokayev’s management over the state of affairs in January.
Nazarbayev has made few public appearances because the disaster, however forged his vote within the capital Sunday, after expressing help for Tokayev and the adjustments.
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Initially printed as Kazakhstan to cross constitutional adjustments: exit polls
