By Felix Light, Mariya Gordeyeva and Tamara Vaal
ALMATY/ASTANA, March 16 (Reuters) – Kazakh voters in a referendum on Sunday approved a new constitution that may provide President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev with a loophole allowing him to stay in power in the Central Asian energy and minerals giant beyond 2029, exit polls showed.
Two exit polls said around 87% of voters had backed the new constitution. Turnout stood at 73%, the electoral commission earlier said.
The new constitution streamlines the country’s parliament, and recreates the office of vice president, which was abolished in 1996. It gives the president the right to appoint the vice president, as well as a host of other key officials.
The constitution’s swift drafting had prompted some analysts in Kazakhstan to suggest that Tokayev may be looking to anoint a successor as vice president and leave office early, or to stay in his post with a new constitution resetting his term limits.
Both the old and new constitutions limit presidents to one, seven-year term, a limit introduced by Tokayev in 2022.
After voting in the capital, Astana, Tokayev, asked by a reporter about whether the constitution would facilitate a coming transfer of power, said that the next presidential election would take place in 2029, when his term ends.
“Some experts suggest that competition for power in Kazakhstan is reportedly intensifying, and that various trends giving rise to concern are on the rise,” Tokayev said. “However, there are absolutely no grounds for worry that this will have a negative impact on society.”
Opposition to the constitutional rewrite had been marginal, with state-approved pollsters showing large majorities in favour of the new document. Since independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Kazakh authorities have maintained tight control over politics in the country of 20 million.
In a rare public statement, Nursultan Nazarbayev, Kazakhstan’s president from 1991 to 2019, said he had voted in favour of the new constitution.
In a message published on his website, Nazarbayev, 85, said: “Some time ago, I made the choice to entrust (the presidency) to Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, and I stand by that choice forever. It is my hope that this Constitution will serve the well-being of our Kazakhstan and the welfare of our people.”
Once Tokayev’s political patron, Nazarbayev was stripped of his remaining official posts and influence after a January 2022 bout of unrest, in which hundreds were killed.
Tokayev has said that the unrest represented a coup attempt by elements of the security services loyal to the former president. Several longtime Nazarbayev allies have been jailed since the 2022 violence.
(Reporting by Felix Light, editing by Deepa Babington)
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