In the former Soviet Republic of Kazakhstan, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has dissolved parliament and called early elections.

The elections will be held on March 19, 2023, Tokayev said Thursday, according to a statement released by the presidential office.

The head of state justified the bringing forward of the elections with the constitutional reform decided last year in response to the violent protests.

Tokayev, who has ruled since 2019, announced in September that he would bring forward the elections in the oil-rich country in Central Asia and dissolve the chamber elected in 2021.

In November, he secured a second term in the presidential election, which was also snapped up.

Previously, last year he had wrested the last strings of power from Nursultan Nazarbayev, who had been in authoritarian rule for almost three decades, and initiated constitutional reforms.

Tokayev sought proximity to the EU

Tokayev has resigned from the dominant Amanat party and has said he will stay out of party politics.

However, there have been no real opposition parties in parliament in Kazakhstan for decades.

And although party registration requirements have been relaxed under Tokayev, parliament is likely to remain very pro-government.

Kazakhstan is actually closely allied with Moscow.

In early 2022, Tokayev had domestic unrest quelled with the help of Russia.

After that, however, he hardly sought contact with the government in Moscow and avoided publicly supporting Russia's war in Ukraine.

Instead, he sought proximity to the EU, which, among other things, obtains oil from Kazakhstan.

The east German refinery Schwedt is also said to receive oil from Kazakhstan.

Nazarbayev had ruled the country with an iron fist for almost three decades and, together with his clan, still held many of the reins even after he stepped down as president in 2019.