Kassym-Jomart Tokayev elected Kazakhstan president

Interim President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, won the country’s snap Presidential elections with nearly 71%. He was also the chosen successor of veteran ruler and former leader Nursultan Nazarbayev.

Key Highlights

• After Nursultan Nazarbayev resigned from as Presidential post of Kazakhstan in March 2019, the Presidentship was transferred to the then Speaker of the Senate (Upper House), Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
• Shortly after assuming the charge of interim President of Kazakhstan, Tokayev in his address to nation announced that elections would be conducted earlier than anticipated.
• Snap Election: In recently held snap election, a total of seven candidates ran for Presidency which also included Daniya Yespayeva, the first woman candidate to do so in country’s history. The voter turnout in elections was 77.4% and Tokayev’s nearest rival Amirzhan Kosanov of United National Patriotic Movement (‘Ult Tagdyry’) received about 16% of votes.
• Significance: For the first time in almost thirty years, the Kazakh presidential elections held in 2019 paved the way for a new candidate coming to power. Tokayev’s predecessor Nursultan Nazarbayev was serving as Kazakh President since the independence of country in 1992 until his resignation in March 2019.