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Kazakhstan voters are voting in a constitutional referendum that President Qasym-Zhomart Tokhaev has said will move the country from a “super-presidential form of government to a presidential republic with a strong parliament.”
The June 5 referendum on about 56 proposed amendments to the Constitution comes after the country was rocked by deadly riots in January that ended long rule under Kazakhstan’s first president, Nursultan Nazarbaev.
Opponents of the government had called on Tokhayev to postpone the referendum, saying people had not been given enough time to study the proposals.
Others said the vote should be canceled altogether. The government reported turnout was about 44 percent after five hours of voting.
To be approved, more than 50 per cent of voters in at least 12 of the country’s 17 regions must vote in favor of the amendments.
The changes will bar the country’s president from being a member of a political party while in office. Perhaps most importantly, the president’s relatives would not be allowed to hold any key positions in the public sector. This move is seen as an attempt to prevent the incredible depth of nepotism that occurred under Nazarbayev.
The one who will lose the most if the referendum is approved is Nazarbayev, who ruled Kazakhstan from 1990 to 2019 and enjoyed significant political influence as a former president until the bloody nationwide riots in January that left at least 238 people dead. .
The revised constitution removes all references to Nazarbaev as “Elbasy” (leader of the nation), which would cement his fall from the “throne” that began with anti-government protesters demanding an end to his family’s control of country politics and assets.
Nazarbaev, 81, and his close relatives would also lose their lifelong immunity from prosecution if the referendum is approved.
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