The politics of Kazakhstan takes place in the framework of a semi-presidential republic, whereby the President of Kazakhstan is head of state and nominates the head of government. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of parliament.
Kassym-Jomart Kemeluly Tokayev is a Kazakh politician and diplomat who has served as the President of Kazakhstan since 2019. Between 20 March and 12 June 2019, he served as acting president after the resignation of Nursultan Nazarbayev, who had been president for nearly three decades.
The Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan is the bicameral legislature of Kazakhstan. The lower house is the Mäjilis, with 98 seats which are elected to five-year terms. The upper house is the Senate, which has 50 members.
Elections in Kazakhstan are held on a national level to elect a President and the Parliament, which is divided into two bodies, the Majilis and the Senate. Local elections for maslihats are held every five years.
Presidential elections were held in Kazakhstan on 4 December 2005. Incumbent president Nursultan Nazarbayev, in power since 1989, sought and won a 3rd term against four other candidates. Opposition candidates were allowed some access to the mass media, but this was still restricted. According to western election observers, opposition candidates also suffered considerable harassment. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) criticized the elections, calling them unfair, but noted improvements.
Mukhtar Abraruly Kul-Mukhammed is a Kazakh statesman and politician, Deputy of the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Candidate of Historical Sciences (1995), Doctor of Law (1999), Professor, Member of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Snap presidential elections were held in Kazakhstan on 26 April 2015 to elect the President of Kazakhstan. This was the fifth presidential election held and second without having any formal opposition candidates. With the highest-ever nationwide turnout of 95.2%, the result was a victory for long-term incumbent President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Nur Otan who received 97.8% of the vote, the largest since 1991, thus winning a fifth term in office while his closest challenger, Turgyn Syzdyqov, received only 1.6% of the votes.
The inauguration of the president of Kazakhstan is a ceremony that takes place to mark the start of a new term for the president of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Events of 2019 in Kazakhstan.
Snap presidential elections were held in Kazakhstan on 9 June 2019 to elect the President of Kazakhstan following the resignation of long-term President Nursultan Nazarbayev in March 2019. This was the sixth presidential election held since Kazakhstan's independence. The elections were not free and fair, and were widely denounced as a sham. Acting president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Nur Otan won the election.
The Security Council of the Republic of Kazakhstan is a constitutional advisory body of the Kazakh Government which aides and assists the President of Kazakhstan in implementation of military policy and law enforcement. The President, who is the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Kazakhstan, is one of many permanent members of the council, which includes the Minister of Defence and the Chief of the General Staff.
The Order of the First President of Kazakhstan – Leader of the Nation Nursultan Nazarbayev, also referred to simply as the Order of Nazarbayev, is a state award of the Republic of Kazakhstan. It was established on 1 January 2001 in honor of President Nursultan Nazarbayev who was at the time, the first and only President of Kazakhstan.
The Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan of the 6th convocation was the legislative term of the Parliament of Kazakhstan.
The Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan of the 7th convocation was a convocation of the Parliament of Kazakhstan from 2021 to 2023.
Presidency of Kassym-Jomart Tokayev began on 20 March 2019, when he assumed office shortly after resignation long-time President Nursultan Nazarbayev; as a Senate Chairman, Tokayev became the Presidential Designate in accordance to the Constitution and would serve as an acting head of state. After declaring snap presidential elections Tokayev, endorsed by Nazarbayev, become the candidate for the ruling Nur Otan party and swept 71% of the vote in the race, thus becoming officially the 2nd President of Kazakhstan. After being inaugurated on 12 June 2019, Tokayev pledged to uphold many of the previous policies by Nazarbayev and at the same time, continue and accelerate social and political reforms.
A constitutional referendum in Kazakhstan, locally called the Republican referendum, was held on 5 June 2022. It was the third referendum since Kazakhstan's independence in 1991, and the first since the 1995 referendum that established the current constitution. The amendments followed violent civil unrest in early January caused by worsening economic conditions and subsequent calls for rapid political reform. The referendum changed 33 of the document's 98 articles. Political commentators assessed that amendments would lessen the influence of the executive branch, grant more powers to the Parliament, and eliminate the powers that former president Nursultan Nazarbayev had retained after resigning from office in 2019.
New Kazakhstan is a concept developed by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev that represents a forward-looking national aspiration for progress, renewal, and modernization in various aspects of Kazakhstan's governance and society. It was first proposed in 2022 following the January events as a response to the societal challenges and demands for change during that period.
The acting president of the Republic of Kazakhstan is a temporary post provided by the Constitution of Kazakhstan. This role is assumed by an individual who fulfills the duties of the president of Kazakhstan in cases of incapacity or vacancy. However, the acting president is more limited in power, as they cannot propose constitutional amendments.
The first inauguration of Kassym-Jomart Tokayev as the president of Kazakhstan took place on Wednesday, 12 June 2019, at the Independence Palace in Nur-Sultan. The event marked the formal commencement of President Tokayev's five-year term, following a historic and peaceful transition of power for the first time in Kazakhstan's history. This transition occurred after Tokayev emerged victorious in the 2019 presidential election, succeeding Nursultan Nazarbayev, who resigned from office in March 2019. Prior to his inauguration, Tokayev had served as acting president.
