New Kazakh president sworn in

The country’s parliament to rename its capital in honor of former leader

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, speaker of Kazakhstan’s upper house of parliament, was sworn in on Wednesday as the country’s interim president after the country’s longtime leader Nursultan Nazarbayev’s Tuesday announcement of resignation.

Kazakhstan’s parliament, on the same day of Tokayev’s inauguration, voted to rename the country’s capital Astana as Nursultan in honor of Nazarbayev, the state-owned Kazinform news agency reported.

Tokayev took the oath of office and assumed the post of Kazakhstan president in a joint parliament meeting.

“I solemnly swear to faithfully serve the people of Kazakhstan, to strictly observe the Constitution and the laws of the Republic of Kazakhstan, to guarantee the rights and freedoms of citizens, to fulfill in good faith great duties of the president of the Republic of Kazakhstan entrusted on me,” he said.

Tokayev, 65, has served as the house speaker since September 2017, according to Kazakh Telegraph Agency. In his speech, he praised Nazarbayev as “an outstanding reformer” who is widely expected to continue to wield influence as chairman of the security council and head of the ruling party. He suggested the capital city Astana should be renamed after Nazarbayev.

Astana replaced Almaty as the capital in 1997 and boomed from a minor provincial steppe town into a futuristic city.

The name literally means “capital” in Kazakh and there has long been speculation it could at some point be renamed after the leader who shaped it, according to the Agence France-Presse.

Known as “Papa” to many Kazakhs, Nazarbayev, 78, announced his surprise resignation on Tuesday after 30 years in power.

“I have taken a decision, which was not easy for me, to resign as president,” Nazarbayev said in a nationwide TV address, flanked by his country’s blue and yellow flags, before signing a decree terminating his powers from March 20.

“As the founder of the independent Kazakh state I see my task now in facilitating the rise of a new generation of leaders who will continue the reforms that are underway in the country.”

Nazarbayev, also attending the ceremony, was applauded for several minutes by the lawmakers as he took a seat at the head of the session.

In Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said on Wednesday that China understands Nazarbayev’s decision to resign as Kazakhstan’s president, and expressed confidence in the development of bilateral ties.

“President Nazarbayev is the founder of the Republic of Kazakhstan and a national leader acclaimed by all Kazakhstan’s people,” Geng said in a daily news conference.

Nazarbayev has consistently been committed to the friendship between China and Kazakhstan, promoted the construction of their comprehensive strategic partnership, as well as supported and took part actively in the cooperation on building the Belt and Road Initiative, and China speaks highly of these efforts, Geng said.

Tokayev is “an old friend and good friend well-known to the Chinese people”, Geng said, adding that China hopes and believes that Kazakhstan’s cause of national development will keep progressing. “We wish prosperity for the friendly Kazakhstan,” he said.

China and Kazakhstan are each other’s important neighbors, and bilateral ties are developing at a high level, Geng said.

“It is in line with both countries’ interests as well as a common understanding of their people to deepen the comprehensive bilateral cooperation,” he said. “China is fully confident in its ties with Kazakhstan as well as the prospect of bilateral cooperation.”

Russia said Nazarbayev and Russian President Vladimir Putin had spoken by phone on Tuesday, but gave no details of their conversation, Tass News Agency reported.

In the ceremony, Tokayev told deputies that Nazarbayev had “demonstrated wisdom” in deciding to resign.

“Yesterday the world witnessed a historic event,” Tokayev said, hailing Nazarbayev as a visionary “reformer”.

At the end of the ceremony, Chairman of the Central Election Commission Berik Mazhitovich handed over to Tokayev the president’s identification document.

Nazarbayev will remain chairman of the Security Council, the Nur Otan Democratic People’s Party and a member of the Constitutional Council.

Tass said that Tokayev will serve for the rest of Nazarbayev’s term, which expires in April 2020.