Kassym-Jomart Tokayev assumed the post of Kazakhstan’s president on Wednesday, promising to continue the policies of veteran leader Nursultan Nazarbayev, who unexpectedly resigned a day earlier after three decades in power, Reuters reports.
Nazarbayev, 78, stepped down late on Tuesday in what appeared to be the first step in a choreographed political transition that will see him retain considerable sway over the Central Asian nation of 18 million people.