ASTANA: Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev announced his shock resignation on Tuesday, 29 years after taking office. "I have taken the decision to refuse the mandate of the presidency," he said in a speech broadcast on state television. Nazarbayev came to power in oil-rich Kazakhstan when it was still a Soviet republic and has never indicated a successor.

The move comes on the back of growing social discontent and an economy still recovering from an oil price plunge in 2014. The announcement also comes just weeks after the ageing strongman dismissed the country's government.

Nazarbayev will enjoy significant policy-making powers following his resignation thanks to his constitutional status as "Leader of the Nation". He also became lifelong head of the country's security council last year. </s> Nursultan Nazarbayev, the last remaining Soviet-era leader and revered patriarch of Central Asia, resigned on Tuesday his post as president of Kazakhstan after nearly 30 years at the helm, although his exit from the political limelight will unlikely lead to major changes in domestic or foreign policy.

In a surprise message to the nation, the 78-year-old Kazakh leader announced his resignation as head of state as of Wednesday, but said he would remain at the head of the pro-government Nur Otan party and the country's influential Security Council to guarantee the smoothest of transitions. </s> Nursultan Nazarbayev, who has ruled the oil-rich ex-Soviet nation of Kazakhstan for nearly three decades, has announced his resignation.

Nazarbayev said in a televised address to the nation Tuesday that he has taken the "difficult" decision to terminate his authority as president, effective on Wednesday. He did not give a specific reason.

The 78-year-old has led Kazakhstan since 1989 when it was still part of the Soviet Union. He came to power as the Central Asian nation's Communist Party chief and was then elected president.

He took nearly 98 percent of the vote in the most recent election, in 2015, when elected for another five-year term.

According to Kazakhstan's constitution, the upper house speaker acts as head of state until a new president is elected. </s> MOSCOW (AP) — Nursultan Nazarbayev, who has ruled the oil-rich ex-Soviet nation of Kazakhstan for nearly three decades, has announced his resignation.

Nazarbayev said in a televised address to the nation Tuesday that he has taken the "difficult" decision to terminate his authority as president, effective on Wednesday. He did not give a specific reason.

The 78-year-old has led Kazakhstan since 1989 when it was still part of the Soviet Union. He came to power as the Central Asian nation's Communist Party chief and was then elected president.

He took nearly 98 percent of the vote in the most recent election, in 2015, when elected for another five-year term.

According to Kazakhstan's constitution, the upper house speaker acts as head of state until a new president is elected. </s> March 20 (UPI) -- The last reigning Soviet-era president has resigned.

After 30 years at the helm of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, 78, announced his resignation Tuesday, but he will remain chairman of the Central Asian country's security council.

He will also remain chairman of the ruling Nur Otan party.

"I stay with you," he said in his televised address. "The cares of the country and the people remain my concerns."

He said the decision to step down was "difficult" and that he was "honored by my people to become the first president of independent Kazakhstan."

However, he said he will stay on in order to help shape the future of his country and its leaders.

"As the founder of an independent Kazakhstani state, I see my future task in ensuring the coming to power of a new generation of leaders who will continue the transformations being carried out in the country," he said.

Nazarbayev, who was elected five times, said parliament speaker Kasym-Zhomart Kemeluly Tokayev, 65, will become interim president.

He will be sworn in on March 20 at the joint parliament session and will serve as president until the 2020 presidential election.

Nazarbayev's resignation comes weeks after he fired the government for failing to improve living standards.

He said there was an insufficient number of productive jobs, especially in the country, and small and medium business had not become an economic growth driver, adding that raising income and the quality of life should have been the main priorities of each government member.

"Under these conditions, I, as president and guarantor of the Constitution, taking into account the interests of our people, make the following decision," he said. "I believe that the government should resign."

The dismissal and has been largely seen as a reaction to persistent nationwide protests, accusing the government of ignoring its citizens' needs.

Nazarbayev had led the oil-rich country since 1989 while it was still a member of the Soviet Union as the country's Communist party head. He was then elected as Kazakhstan's first president in 1991. In 2015, his fifth election victory, Nazarbayev received nearly 98 percent of the vote. </s> Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev has abruptly resigned after nearly 30 years in office, but will continue to head the ruling party and keep his lifetime post as chairman of the influential Security Council.

"I have decided to end my duties as president," Nazarbaev said in a televised address to the nation on March 19, speaking hours after his office said that he would make an important announcement.

"This year I will have held the highest post for 30 years," said Nazarbaev, 78, who has headed the energy-rich country since before the Soviet collapse of 1991. "The people gave me the opportunity to be the first president of an independent Kazakhstan."

He said that that the speaker of the upper parliament chamber, Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev, will hold presidential authority for now. The next presidential election is due to be held in 2020.

Nazarbaev said that he will remain at the helm of the ruling Nur Otan party and will stay on as chairman of the presidential Security Council, roles that could allow him to retain a great deal of power.

In July 2018, the Security Council's status was changed from consultative to constitutional, increasing its authority, and Nazarbaev became its chairman for life.

Many in Kazakhstan saw those changes as a sign that Nazarbaev was seeking to ensure that he would maintain his grip on power if he stepped down as president.

Rights activists and critics say Nazarbaev has persistently suppressed dissent, prolonged his time in office through undemocratic votes or referendums, and used the levers of power to neutralize potential opponents.

Nazarbaev was last elected in 2015, securing a five-year term after moving the date of the vote up from 2016 in a move was widely seen as an attempt to strengthen his grip on power.

With the death of autocratic Uzbek President Islam Karimov in 2016, Nazarbaev became the only leader of a former Soviet republic to have held power since before the U.S.S.R. fell apart in 1991.

While his announcement was unexpected, there had been several signs that he might be considering stepping down as president.

In early February, Nazarbaev set off speculation about his intentions by asking Kazakhstan's Constitutional Council to provide an official interpretation of an article from the country's constitution that deals with the termination of presidential duties.

His resignation followed unusually persistent protests in which demonstrators in several cities across the country of some 18.7 million have accused the government of ignoring the needs and demands of ordinary people.

The protests were spurred in part by anger and grief over the deaths of five children from a single family in a house fire in Astana, the capital, on February 4.

The predawn fire destroyed a tiny family home in Astana while both parents were away working overnight shifts, killing five girls aged 3 months to 13 years. </s> Nazarbayev Resigns As Kazakhstan's President; Was First Elected In 1991

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev says he will resign the post he has held for nearly 30 years, abruptly announcing the end of an era that began in 1990. But Nazarbayev, 78, also said he'll keep several key official posts, in a speech that aired on national TV Tuesday.

In the former Soviet bloc, formerly comprised of 15 countries, Nazarbayev is the only long-standing leader to sustain power for three decades. The president of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov died in 2016 after his presidential reign of 26 years.

Despite resigning the presidency, Nazarbayev will maintain control of the ruling Nur Otan Party. He'll also remain a member of powerful government councils.

"In accordance with our laws, I'm given a status of the first president - the nation's leader (El basy in Kazakh), I will remain the Security Council's chairman, who has serious powers to determine the country's domestic and foreign policy in line with the laws," Nazarbayev said, in a translation by Russia's Tass news agency.

"In July 2018, the Security Council's status was changed from consultative to constitutional, increasing its authority, and Nazarbayev became its chairman for life," Radio Free Europe reports.

In late January, Nazarbayev asked Kazakhstan's Constitutional Council to clarify Section 3 of Article 42 of the Constitution, laying out a path for his early resignation.

On Feb. 21, Nazarbayev dismissed the entire Cabinet and reassembled it, amid a rising criticism of state officials that have been proven unable "to listen to listen to people's problems," according to Eurasianet. "No systematic work was done. The real incomes of the population have not increased. Spending on food as a share of the family budget is growing," Nazarbayev said at the time.

Nazarbayev has been a dominant force in oil-rich Kazakhstan. He's also often been accused of abusing human rights and of using autocratic methods to maintain control, amass power and influence elections.

And then there's the cult of personality Nazarbayev has developed in the former Soviet Central Asian republic. Kazakhstan celebrates holidays on both the president's birthday and on the anniversary of his first election, for instance. And in 2006, Nazarbayev changed the lyrics to his country's national anthem.

In 2017, one of the main streets in the former capital of Kazakhstan, the city of Almaty, has been renamed after him.

Nazarbayev is the only president Kazakhstan has ever known. He first rose to authority in the 1980s as a Communist Party official under the Soviet regime, which appointed him president shortly before the U.S.S.R.'s collapse. In 1991, his presidency was affirmed by an election in which he took nearly 100 percent of the vote.

Since taking power, Nazarbayev has steadily won five new terms, with lopsided results: In each of his last two elections, the perennial incumbent won at least 95 percent of the vote. During his tenure, Kazakhstan has gradually shifted the terms in office for the presidency. The terms were once for seven years; that changed in 2007, when the term was shortened to five years.

Nazarbayev won his last election in 2015 — a vote that was shifted one year early, in a move that has been a hallmark of the presidency's decades in office. </s> Nursultan Nazarbayev may have resigned as president of Kazakhstan but analysts say the longest-serving post-Soviet leader will hardly be easing into retirement.

By retaining key posts — as head of the security council and chair of the ruling party — the 78-year-old Central Asian strongman will be in a position to keep ruling the nation behind the scenes.

“Nazarbayev is not going anywhere, he will be in charge of the country for as long as his health allows,” said Central Asia analyst Andrei Grozin.

Sergey Duvanov, an independent analyst based in Kazakhstan’s largest city Almaty, said Nazarbayev will continue to rule the country “just with a different title”.

“He will continue to have all the power, but that hectic presidential schedule — government meetings, diplomatic visits, ceremonial occasions — will belong to someone else now.”

Eduard Poletaev, director of the Kazakhstan-based World of Eurasia think tank, was even more blunt.

Poletaev said the balance of power in Kazakhstan may not change much in the coming years, comparing Nazarbayev to Deng Xiaoping who was China’s ultimate decision-maker until his death in 1997.

The Kazakh ruler has expressed admiration for Singapore’s founding father Lee Kuan Yew, a personal friend who retained influence over decision-making in the country even after he quit as prime minister.

While analysts had long pointed to the possibility of a phased transition of power in the country of 18 million, the decision “has come as a shock to many in Kazakhstan,” said Joanna Lillis, author of “Dark Shadows: Inside the Secret World of Kazakhstan”.

“Clearly Nazarbayev had decided to oversee the political transition and establish his legacy once and for all in his lifetime,” she said in written comments.

Some observers suggested the announcement might have been prompted by a crisis in Algeria where protesters have taken to the streets to call for an end to the long rule of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

“He has taken this decision against the background of what’s happening in Algeria, but he retained key duties,” said Poletaev.

Still, analysts said they were impressed at the veteran leader deciding to step aside voluntarily, unlike some of his Central Asian counterparts who left office feet first.

“You have to hand it to him — this is a breathtaking move. He established a tradition of power transfer,” said Andrei Suzdaltsev, a professor at Moscow’s Higher School of Economics.

“And for Central Asia, this is something incredible.”

Leadership transitions in authoritarian Central Asia are the subject of regular speculation due to the region’s deep authoritarian tradition and abundance of oil and gas wealth.

Nazarbayev’s counterpart in Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov, died after 27 years in power in 2016 and was replaced by his prime minister, Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

Turkmenistan’s long-ruling first president Saparmurat Niyazov — who died in 2006 — fashioned one of the world’s great personality cults.

His former health minister and one-time dentist Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov picked up where Niyazov left off, overseeing a system that has no space for independent media or political opposition and sometimes draws comparisons with North Korea.

Many drew parallels between Nazarbayev’s address and the stunning resignation of Russia’s Boris Yeltsin on New Year’s Eve 1999, when he appointed Vladimir Putin as acting chief.

“Take care of an independent Kazakhstan,” said Nazarbayev, echoing Yeltsin’s call to “take care of Russia” in his legendary televised address.

The Kremlin said that Nazarbayev and Putin had on Tuesday spoken by phone and many analysts said that the resignation had been likely discussed with Moscow.

Some suggested that Putin may borrow from the Kazakh leader’s playbook when the Kremlin chief’s fourth term runs out in 2024.

“One wonders whether this is a model for a certain neighbour to the north,” Sam Greene, director of the Russia Institute at King’s College London, said on Twitter. </s> New Kazakh president sworn in after longtime leader resigns

MOSCOW (AP) — The speaker of Kazakhstan's parliament was sworn as interim president on Wednesday, a day after longtime leader Nursultan Nazarbayev abruptly resigned.

Nazarbayev surprised many by announcing in a televised address Tuesday that he would step down after nearly 30 years in office, making Kassym-Jomart Tokayev only the second president in the country's independent history.

The 78-year-old Nazarbayev attended Tokayev's inauguration Wednesday, entering to lengthy applause from assembled dignitaries before taking a seat on a podium behind the lectern where Tokayev gave an address.

Tokayev in his speech 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.

Nazarbayev took the helm in Kazakhstan as its Communist Party chief of the republic in 1989 when it was part of the Soviet Union, and he was first elected its president weeks before the 1991 Soviet collapse gave the country its independence.

He has been widely praised for maintaining stability and ethnic peace in Kazakhstan, a large, oil-rich nation south of Russia and west of China. Even though he has faced criticism for marginalizing the political opposition and creating what is effectively a one-party state, the political regime that Nazarbayev has built is more liberal than those in the de-facto dictatorships in the neighboring Central Asian countries.
The President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, announces his resignation after 29 years in office.