Central Asia
Journal: Repository for Publications and Research Data (ETH Zurich)
Year: 2020

After nearly 30 years in power, Nursultan Nazarbayev's decision to stand down on the 19th March 2019 as president of Kazakhstan took many observers by surprise. The former prime minister and speaker of the Kazakh Senate, Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev, took up the post of acting president as constitutionally designated, and then won an extraordinary presidential election in June 2019, which was marred by opposition protest demanding fairer elections and political reform. But the transition is one in whi