Parliament of Kazakhstan supported the renaming of the capital and the seven-year term of the president

The Parliament of Kazakhstan at a joint meeting of the upper and lower chambers approved amendments to the Constitution of the republic, which, in particular, involve renaming the capital back to Astana and reducing the powers of the president.

In accordance with the amendments, the presidential term is increased from six to seven years, but re-election is prohibited. In addition, the powers of the head of state in relation to local executive bodies and the Supreme Judicial Council will be limited, and the quota in the Senate will be reduced. At the same time, the provisions of the constitution regarding the powers and terms of the president become unchanged. The term of office of judges of the constitutional court is also being extended to eight years, with a restriction on reappointment.

The deputies of the parliament also supported the renaming of the capital of Nur-Sultan back to Astana. All 98 deputies of the Mazhilis (lower house) and all 50 deputies of the Senate voted for the adoption of the amendments. Further, the document must be signed by the President of the country, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

Rename Nursultan back to Astana suggested deputies of the lower house of parliament (Majilis) in early September. According to them, it is wrong to call the city after a person during his lifetime, “besides, the people also did not accept the new name of the capital,” they noted. “Therefore, it will be historically fair to return the former name of the capital Astana, which was once proposed by the first president,” they said in a statement.

Tokayev issued a new message last week. In particular, he proposed holding early presidential elections in Kazakhstan in autumn 2022 (instead of 2024), limiting the presidential term to seven years, and prohibiting re-election. President also supported proposal to rename the capital. At the same time, the rest of the objects named after the first president of the republic will remain with the same names, they will not be renamed, the press secretary of the head of state said.

Tokayev became the President of Kazakhstan on March 20, 2019 after Nursultan Nazarbayev resigned. On March 23 of the same year, the capital was renamed in his honor. Nazarbayev has headed the republic since 1990, he has held the presidency for almost 29 years.

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