Kazakh Ruling Party Nominates Tokayev For Presidency

• 04.23.2019, 17:38
•  Asia,  World

BBC

Kazakhstan's ruling party nominated Kassym-Jomart Tokayev as its candidate for a snap presidential vote in June after he was backed by the country's founding leader Nursultan Nazarbayev, setting the stage for a smooth handover of power in the Central Asian nation, Aljazeera reports. 

Tokayev's candidacy received unanimous backing from 600 delegates of the ruling Nur Otan party, which is loyal to 78-year-old Nazarbayev, at a conference in the capital Nur-Sultan, newly named for the former leader.

Sixty-five-year-old Tokayev is now all but certain to win the June 9 vote, marking a rare handover of power in ex-Soviet Central Asia where local leaders usually hold on to office until death.