President of Kazakhstan

The president of the Republic of Kazakhstan (Kazakh: Қазақстан Республикасының Президенті, Qazaqstan Respýblıkasynyń Prezıdenti; Russian: Президент Республики Казахстан) is the head of state, commander-in-chief and holder of the highest office within the Republic of Kazakhstan. The powers of this position are described in a special section of the Constitution of Kazakhstan.

President of the Republic of Kazakhstan
Қазақстан Республикасының Президенті
Qazaqstan Respýblıkasynyń Prezıdenti
Presidential standard
Incumbent
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev
since 20 March 2019
ResidenceAk Orda Presidential Palace
AppointerDirect popular vote
Term length5 years, renewable once.
Inaugural holderNursultan Nazarbayev
Formation24 April 1990
SuccessionChairperson of the Senate of Kazakhstan
Salary20,400 USD 7,876,032.18 KZT[1][2]
Website(in Kazakh) akorda.kz
(in English) www.akorda.kz/en
Kazakhstan
This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
Kazakhstan

CIS Member State

The position was established on 24 April 1990, a year before the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The current president is Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, who assumed office on 20 March 2019 following the resignation of the first president, Nursultan Nazarbayev.[3]

None of the presidential elections held in Kazakhstan have been considered free or fair by Western standards[4] with issues noted including ballot tampering, multiple voting, harassment of opposition candidates and press censorship.

Symbols

The president of Kazakhstan's decorations include a breast mark and a Presidential Standard.

Presidential Standard

The Standard of the President of Kazakhstan is similar to the national flag in that it is rectangular in shape with a ratio of 1:2. In the center of the standard is the Emblem of Kazakhstan. It is bordered on three sides with golden fringe.[5][6]

Presidential Standard (1995—2012)

The current presidential standard has been in service as recently as 2012. The former standard, which was used from 1995–2012, was a light blue rectangle there with a golden circle in which the figure of the young Kazakh leader Sakas riding a snow leopard.

Altyn Qyran Order

The Order of the Golden Eagle (Kazakh: Алтын Қыран ордені or Altyn Qyran Order) is the highest civilian award that can be awarded by the president of Kazakhstan. Its purpose is to recognize outstanding service to the country by Kazakh and foreign citizens. As head of state, the president is de facto Commander special class of the Order of Altyn Kyran.[7][8]

President in the Constitution

Item 5 of Article 42 of the Constitution determines that no one can be elected president more than two terms in a row, but it also states that "The present restriction shall not extend on the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan." [9]

Article 46 says that the president's "honor and dignity shall be inviolable" and that his expenses shall be paid by the state. Item 4 of the article outlines the special status and authority of the first president, and refers to a special constitutional act for definitions.[9] According to this act, the first president possesses total, absolute and termless immunity for all actions he performs while in office, and that he remains a government official until his death. He also retains the ability to speak to the people of Kazakhstan, keeps guards, communication, transport, and state support of his activity, and that his official apartment and summer residence became his property with official maintenance. He is also provided with medical care, sanatorium, pensions and insurance.

On April 26, 2015, Nursultan Nazarbayev was re-elected for his 5th presidential term.[10] The official ceremony of the inauguration took place at the Palace of Independence in Nur-Sultan on April 29.[10] At the inauguration ceremony the re-elected president assured the nation that he would continue the 5 institutional reforms that he had offered earlier, which would contribute to the consistent growth and development of the country.[10]

On January 25, 2017, President Nursultan Nazarbayev laid the groundwork for reforms to the constitution that would redistribute executive powers to the parliament and ministries for the purpose of more open and efficient governance.[11]

Presidential Administration
An official document of the presidency.

The Presidential Administration of the Republic of Kazakhstan (Kazakh: Қазақстан Республикасы Президентінің Әкімшілігі/Russian: Администрация Президента Республики Казахстан) reports directly to the president and aids him/her in their everyday dates. It was established in accordance of Presidential Decree No. 2565 on October 20, 1995. It is currently based at the Ak Orda Presidential Palace in the capital city of Nur-Sultan. Prior to that, it was based in Almaty.[12]

Heads of the Presidential Administration
  • Nurtai Abykayev (1990–1995)
  • Saginbek Tursunov (1995–1996)
  • Akhmetzhan Yesimov (1996)
  • Oralbay Abdykarimov (1996–1997)
  • Sarybai Kalmurzaev (1997–1998)
  • Vladimir Shepel (1998)
  • Akhmetzhan Yesimov (1998)
  • Alikhan Baimenov (1998–1999)
  • Sarybai Kalmurzaev (1999–2002)
  • Nurtai Abykayev (January 29, 2002 – March 10, 2004)
  • Imangali Tasmagambetov (March 10 – December 9, 2004)
  • Adilbek Dzhaksybekov (December 19, 2004 – January 23, 2008)
  • Kairat Kelimbetov (January 23 – October 13, 2008)
  • Aslan Musin (October 13, 2008 – September 21, 2012)
  • Karim Massimov (September 24, 2012 – April 3, 2014)
  • Nurlan Nigmatulin (April 3, 2014 – June 21, 2016)
  • Adilbek Dzhaksybekov (June 21, 2016 – September 10, 2018)
  • Aset Issekeshev (September 10, 2018 – present)

Latest election

Prior to the 2011 election, President Nazarbayev wrote an op-ed for The Washington Post titled "Kazakhstan’s steady progress toward democracy".[13]

Kazakhstan's fifth presidential election was held on April 26, 2015.[14] Nursultan Nazarbayev was re-elected with 97.7% of the vote.[15] A total of 858 observers from 19 countries were present at the polling stations during the election.[15] According to Joseph Misfud, member of the election observation mission from Great Britain and head of the Diplomatic Academy of London, "the elections met all the EU standards".[16]

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and other international monitors criticised the election as unfair, with issues noted including the closure of media outlets critical of the government and the jailing of opposition activists.[17] OSCE spokesperson Cornelia Jonker criticised the lack of a "genuine choice" for voters and also argued that there were "significant restrictions to the freedom of expression."[18]

The date of Kazakhstan's fifth presidential election is June 9, 2019. It is the first election since the resignation of the first president of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev.[19]

Presidents of Kazakhstan (1990–present)
Main article: List of leaders of Kazakhstan

The "No." column consecutively numbers the individuals who have served as president, while the "Elected" column consecutively numbers the presidential terms or administrations.

No. Portrait Name

(Birth–Death)

 Elected Term of office Political party
Took office Left office Time in office
1 Nursultan Nazarbayev
Нұрсұлтан Назарбаев
(1940–)		 1990 24 April 1990 1 December 1991 27 years,

94 days

 QKP
(1) 1991 1 December 1991 14 December 1991 Independent
14 December 1991 20 January 1999
1999 20 January 1999 1 March 1999
(1) 1 March 1999 11 January 2006 Otan
2005 11 January 2006 1 December 2006
(1) 1 December 2006 8 April 2011 Nur Otan
2011 8 April 2011 29 April 2015
2015 29 April 2015 20 March 2019[20]
(resigned from office)
2 Kassym-Jomart Tokayev
Қасым-Жомарт Тоқаев
(1953–)		 20 March 2019[21] 12 June 2019 1 year, 149 days Nur Otan
2019 12 June 2019 Incumbent

Rank by time in office
Rank President Time in office
1 Nursultan Nazarbayev 27 years, 94 days[22]
2 Kassym-Jomart Tokayev 1 year, 149 days
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See also

References
  1. "Зарплаты президентов – Новости Таджикистана ASIA-Plus". news.tj. Archived from the original on 2019-06-03.
  2. "Сколько зарабатывает Путин и президенты других стран / FinHow.ru". finhow.ru.
  3. Kazakhstan President Embassy of Kazakhstan
  4. Kazakhstan's long term president to run in snap election – again, The Guardian, 11 March 2015
  5. "Официальный сайт Президента РК :: КАЗАХСТАН". 5 October 2008. Archived from the original on 5 October 2008.
  6. "Персональная страница". personal.akorda.kz. Archived from the original on 2019-06-01. Retrieved 2019-03-25.
  7. "Symbols of power". Akorda. Archived from the original on 9 July 2015. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
  8. "Awards and orders of the Republic of Kazakhstan". Government of Kazakhstan. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
  9. Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan Archived 2007-10-20 at the Wayback Machine Constitutional Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan
  10. "Re-elected President Inaugurated, Announces Five Reform Efforts". astanatimes.com.
  11. "Kazakh President Unveils Plans of Constitutional Reforms". The Astana Times.
  12. "Электронное правительство Республики Казахстан -". egov.kz.
  13. Kazakhstan’s steady progress toward democracy Washington Post
  14. "Nearly 10 mn voters to head to polls to elect Kazakh president". latino.foxnews.com. Archived from the original on 2016-01-01.
  15. "Kazakhstan strongman leader re-elected with 97.7% amid record voter turnout". rt.com.
  16. "Elections in Kazakhstan meet all EU standards – Joseph Mifsud". 2015-04-26. Retrieved 2019-06-01.
  17. "Kazakh strongman says sorry for landslide election victory". telegraph.co.uk. 27 April 2015.
  18. Kazakhstan president Nursultan Nazarbayev wins re-election with 97.7 per cent of vote, ABC Australia, 28 April 2015
  19. "Early presidential election in Kazakhstan set for June 9; President Tokayev pledges fair and transparent vote". The Astana Times.
  20. "Kazakh President Nazarbaev Abruptly Announces Resignation". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. Retrieved 2019-03-19.
  21. "Обязанности президента Казахстана будет исполнять спикер Сената Токаев". ТАСС.
  22. Counting from the declaration of independence on 16 December 1991.
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