Kassym-Jomart Tokayev elected Kazakhstan president

June 11, 2019

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.

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