Kazakh ruling party wants to extend Nazarbayev’s presidential term

PanARMENIAN.Net - The ruling party of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev said on Monday, Feb 16, it wanted the veteran leader to extend his term in an early election this year, in a sign the oil-rich nation's elite sees no apparent successor after his 26-year grip on power, Reuters reports.

The 74-year-old former steel worker, popularly nicknamed "Papa", has ruled his vast Central Asian nation of 17 million with a strong hand since 1989 when he became the head of the local Communist Party.

His Nur Otan party published a statement in support of a "people's initiative" aired at the weekend by the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan, which he also chairs, to hold a snap election this year and extend his rule by another five years.

"We believe the initiative on holding an early presidential election is the most correct decision in full compliance with the interests of the nation and the people," the Nur Otan party said in a statement posted on its website.

Nur Otan and the assembly, which represents the nation's ethnic groups, both said that a new term would allow Nazarbayev to steer Kazakhstan through economic difficulties caused by low oil prices and a crisis in neighboring Russia.

Early polls would allow the elites close to Nazarbayev to extend the current status quo, guaranteed by the veteran leader, said Kazakh political analyst Dosym Satpayev.

Under the law, Nazarbayev is now expected to issue a decree to set the date for an early election. After that, an early election is to be held within two months.