NURSULTAN: Polling stations have closed in Kazakhstan for a referendum to overhaul the constitution, as the Central Asian nation’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev aims to reform the political system after the three-decade rule of founding leader Nursultan Nazarbayev. The constitutional reform is part of a drive for a “New Kazakhstan” spearheaded by Tokayev, who was hand-picked by Nazarbayev to replace him as president in 2019.
It moves to decentralise decision-making and allow greater representation of various groups in parliament, as well as preventing relatives of the president from holding government positions.
Tokayev has described the vote as a shift from “super-presidential” rule that will strengthen parliament and do away with Nazarbayev’s privileges, including the constitutional title of Elbasy, or Leader of the Nation. “We are … laying the foundation for the Second Republic,” Tokayev said, addressing the nation on the eve of the vote. –Agencies
