President of Kazakhstan

President of the Republic of Kazakhstan
Standard of the President
Acting President Qassym-Shomart Toqayev since March 20, 2019
Official seat	Ak Orda Palace in Nur Sultan
Term of office	5 years
Creation of office	April 24, 1990
Last choice	June 9, 2019
website	www.akorda.kz

The President of the Republic of Kazakhstan ( Kazakh Қазақстан Республикасының Президенті , Russian Президент Республики Казахстан ) is the head of state of Kazakhstan . From March 20, 2019, this office will be carried out by Qassym-Shomart Toqayev . De jure , the president is elected by the people for a term of five years, the term of office being limited to two consecutive terms.

choice

According to constitutional law, the President of Kazakhstan is elected by general, equal and direct elections in secret ballot for a five-year term by the adult citizens of Kazakhstan. The presidential election usually takes place on the first Sunday in December of the year and must not coincide with the election of a new parliament. An election can also be brought forward by decree of the incumbent president. After a constitutional amendment in 1998, the term of office was initially extended to seven years, but after another constitutional amendment, the term of office was again limited to five years.

According to Article 41 of the Constitution , anyone who is at least 40 years old and has knowledge of the Kazakh language , which must be proven by a test, and who has lived in Kazakhstan for the last 15 years can be elected President . The candidate who receives more than 50 percent of all votes becomes the new president of the country. If no candidate receives the required majority in the first ballot, there is between the two candidates who received the most votes, a runoff election . The person who receives the most votes in this ballot is the new head of state.

Powers

With the new constitution of 1995 the president was given further powers at the expense of the parliament and an amendment to the constitution in 1998 extended the term of office to seven years. In a further step in May 2007, Nursultan Nazarbayev expanded the already dominant position of the president. He put parliament to vote on a constitutional amendment that would allow him an unlimited number of presidential candidates and at the same time limit the term of office for future presidents to two five-year terms.

Shortly after his election as president, Nazarbayev began to centralize most of the executive power in the presidential office, so the governors of the territories are appointed by the president. The President is also responsible for determining the most important cabinet positions. He is responsible for filling the posts of Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs , Minister of Interior , Minister of Justice and Minister of Defense . The president can also introduce his own laws into the Maschilis , the lower house of parliament, and declare decisions of the government and the prime minister partially or completely invalid. Furthermore, with the approval of the Senate, he is responsible for appointing and dismissing the chairman of the National Bank, the prosecutor general and the head of the secret service, as well as the Kazakh diplomats . As head of state, he is also the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and responsible for appointing the military leadership.

After Nazarbayev's resignation, however, he remained chairman of the Security Council for life and has the right to veto appointments to important offices in the country, and his position as "leader of the nation" is enshrined in the constitution, which relativized the power of the subsequent president.

Official seat

The Ak Orda Palace is the official seat of the Kazakh President. It is located in the Kazakh capital Nur-Sultan on the banks of the Ishim River in the new government district, which also houses the Bayterek Tower , the city's landmark, and most of Kazakhstan's government agencies. After three years of construction, the building was officially presented on December 24, 2004 by Nursultan Nazarbayev.

insignia

The current standard of the president was introduced in 2013 and is a version of the flag of Kazakhstan . Unlike the flag, which shows a golden sun with 32 rays in the middle and a steppe eagle below , the coat of arms of Kazakhstan is shown in the middle.

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  Standard 1991–2013

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  Standard since 2013

Oath of office

The President takes the following oath of office during the inauguration:

"Қазақстан халқына адал қызмет етуге, Қазақстан Республикасының Конституциясы мен заңдарын қатаң сақтауға, азаматтардың құқықтары мен бостандықтарына кепiлдiк беруге, Қазақстан Республикасы Президентiнiң өзiме жүктелген мәртебелi мiндетiн адал атқаруға салтанатты түрде ант етемiн"

“I solemnly swear that I will faithfully serve the Kazakh people, strictly comply with the Constitution and laws of the Republic of Kazakhstan, guaranteeing the rights and freedoms of citizens, and conscientiously carry out the highest duties of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan entrusted to me . "

- Art. 42 Constitution

List of Kazakh presidents

No.	image	Surname	Life dates	Taking office	Resignation	Political party	Remarks
1		Nursultan Nazarbayev	* 1940	April 24, 1990	20th March 2019	Only Otan	According to a constitutional amendment, there was no limit to the term of office for Nazarbayev.
2		Qassym-Shomart Toqayev	* 1953	20th March 2019	officiating	Only Otan	After the resignation of Nazarbayev, the office was initially only carried out temporarily. Was elected President of the country in the 2019 election.

See also

• Political system of Kazakhstan
• List of Prime Ministers of Kazakhstan

Web links

• Official website of the President of Kazakhstan (English, Kazakh and Russian)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} akorda.kz: The Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan (English). Retrieved March 28, 2015.
2. ^ ^{A b} Andreas Heinrich: The Formal Political System in Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan. A background study. (PDF) Research Center for Eastern Europe at the University of Bremen, 2010, pp. 28–29 , accessed on March 28, 2015 (English). 
3. ↑ BBC News: Kazakhs pave way for president for life , accessed March 29, 2015.
4. ^ Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev resigns , Die Zeit, March 19, 2019
5. ↑ Kazakhstan: Nazarbayev Gains Control of Appointments to Key State Offices , novastan.org, October 24, 2019
6. ↑ akorda.kz: Қазақстан Республикасының Конституциясы ( Memento of the original from April 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The  archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Kazakh). Retrieved March 28, 2015.