President of Kazakhstan

The president of Kazakhstan's decorations include a breast mark and a presidential standard. Unlike Presidents of most countries, they also have a military rank insignia.

Presidential standard

The standard of the president of Kazakhstan is similar to the national flag in that it is rectangular in shape with a ratio of 1:2. In the center of the standard is the Emblem of Kazakhstan. It is bordered on three sides with golden fringe.[3][4]

Presidential standard from 1995 to 2012

The current presidential standard has been in service as recently as 2012. The former standard, which was used from 1995 to 2012, was a light blue rectangle there with a golden circle in which the figure of the young Kazakh leader Sakas riding a snow leopard.

Item 5 of Article 42 of the Constitution determines that no one can be elected president more than two terms in a row, before 2022 constitutional amendments it also stated that "The present restriction shall not extend on the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan." [7]

Article 46 says that the president's "honor and dignity shall be inviolable" and that their expenses shall be paid by the state. Item 4 of the article outlines the special status and authority of the first president, and refers to a special constitutional act for definitions.[7] According to this act, the first president possesses total, absolute and termless immunity for all actions they perform while in office, and that they remain a government official until their death. They also retains the ability to speak to the people of Kazakhstan, keeps guards, communication, transport, and state support of their activity, and that their official apartment and summer residence became their property with official maintenance. They are also provided with medical care, sanatorium, pensions and insurance.

On April 26, 2015, Nursultan Nazarbayev was re-elected for his 5th presidential term.[8] The official ceremony of the inauguration took place at the Palace of Independence in Astana on April 29.[8] At the inauguration ceremony the re-elected president assured the nation that he would continue the 5 institutional reforms that he had offered earlier, which would contribute to the consistent growth and development of the country.[8]

On January 25, 2017, President Nursultan Nazarbayev laid the groundwork for reforms to the constitution that would redistribute executive powers to the parliament and ministries for the purpose of more open and efficient governance.[9]

An official document of the presidency.

The Presidential Administration of Kazakhstan (Kazakh: Қазақстан Республикасы Президентінің Әкімшілігі/Russian: Администрация Президента Республики Казахстан) reports directly to the president and aids him/her in their everyday dates. It was established in accordance of Presidential Decree No. 2565 on October 20, 1995. It is currently based at the Ak Orda Presidential Palace in the capital city of Astana. Prior to that, it was based in Almaty.[10]

Prior to the 2011 election, President Nazarbayev wrote an op-ed for The Washington Post titled "Kazakhstan’s steady progress toward democracy".[11]

Kazakhstan's fifth presidential election was held on April 26, 2015.[12] Nursultan Nazarbayev was re-elected with 97.7% of the vote. A total of 858 observers from 19 countries were present at the polling stations during the election. According to Joseph Misfud, member of the election observation mission from Great Britain and head of the Diplomatic Academy of London, "the elections met all the EU standards".[13]

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and other international monitors criticised the election as unfair, with issues noted including the closure of media outlets critical of the government and the jailing of opposition activists.[14] OSCE spokesperson Cornelia Jonker criticised the lack of a "genuine choice" for voters and also argued that there were "significant restrictions to the freedom of expression."[15]

Kazakhstan's sixth presidential election was held on June 9, 2019. It was the first election since the resignation of the first president of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev.[16]

• Vice President of Kazakhstan
• Prime Minister of Kazakhstan
• Kazakh presidential inauguration

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nursultan Nazarbayev.

• Official website of Kazakhstan President Nazarbayev
• Kazakhstan President Nazarbayev Biography