Kazakhstan is slowly shedding the authoritarian legacy of Noursultan Nazarbayev, its former president.
The capital, which became Nur-Sultan in March 2019 to pay tribute to the former head of state on his departure, will regain its name of Astana.
On its website, the Kazakh presidency indicated that Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed this law on constitutional amendments which also increase the mandate of the Kazakh head of state to seven years non-renewable, against five years renewable twice in a row previously. .
The Parliament had approved these changes the day before.
The Kazakh presidency also issued a decree on Saturday stating that the capital would officially revert to the name of Astana upon publication of the decree.
On September 1, President Tokayev declared himself in favor of reducing the non-renewable mandate to seven years and also proposed to organize an early presidential election this autumn.
This last proposal has not yet been officially confirmed.
A turning point with the January riots
Nursultan Nazarbayev, 82, who authoritatively ruled this former Soviet republic from independence in 1991 to 2019, had established a cult of his personality in Kazakhstan.
Coming to power after the surprise resignation of his mentor, the new president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, 69, has gradually distanced himself from the legacy of Nursultan Nazarbayev, initiating reforms and pushing aside the influential clan of the ex-president .
This turning point has been increasingly marked since the deadly riots that shook Kazakhstan in January and whose causes remain mysterious.
Nursultan Nazarbayev notably saw his title of “Elbassy” (“Head of the Nation”) withdrawn, a status which gave him considerable authority.
Several of his relatives have been dismissed from positions of responsibility and one of his nephews has been arrested for embezzlement.
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