Kazakhstan's Ruling Party Nominates Tokayev For President

Kazakhstan's ruling party on Tuesday nominated Kassym-Jomart Tokayev as its candidate for a snap presidential vote in June, after he was put forward by the oil-rich country's founding leader Nursultan Nazarbayev

NurSultan, Kazakhstan, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 23rd Apr, 2019 ) :Kazakhstan's ruling party on Tuesday nominated Kassym-Jomart Tokayev as its candidate for a snap presidential vote in June, after he was put forward by the oil-rich country's founding leader Nursultan Nazarbayev.

Acting president Tokayev's candidacy received unanimous backing from 600 delegates of the ruling Nur Otan party, which is completely loyal to 78-year-old Nazarbayev, at an extraordinary conference in the capital Nur-Sultan.

Speaking after delegates praised his candidacy, Tokayev said he would stay on the path set by Nazarbayev.

"I am going into the elections to continue the course of Elbasy," Tokayev said, referring to Nazarbayev's Kazakh-language title which translates as "Leader of the Nation".

Tokayev described that course as "moving forward, without forgetting the past".

Nazarbayev, 78, shocked the oil-rich nation in March by calling time on his three-decade presidency and allowing Tokayev to succeed him, initially on an interim basis.

Tokayev subsequently called the election for June 9 in a televised address to the nation.

Speaking at the conference Tuesday, he also referenced the decision to rename the capital from Astana to "Nur-Sultan" in honour of Nazarbayev, which he proposed immediately after being sworn in as acting president.

"We created a new capital that was worthy of the name of its architect," Tokayev said of the provincial steppe town Nazarbayev transformed into a glitzy city of one million people.

"Elbasy gave us a vision for a new state, his strategy. (We) just need to realise it," Tokayev said.