Kazakhstan’s ruling Amanat party has announced it will merge with a party launched only a month ago by allies of the country’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
The announcement by Amanat, which broadly translates as ‘Legacy’ in English, comes ahead of parliamentary elections in the Central Asian nation in August.
Amanat has effectively been Kazakhstan’s ruling party since independence. It had been called Nur Otan until 2022, emerging out of political organisations supportive of Kazakhstan's first President Nursultan Nazarbayev, who led the country from 1991 until 2019.
At its congress in the capital Astana, Amanat said it would become part of the Adilet party, or ‘Justice’ party in English, ahead of the elections. Amanat has secured large parliamentary majorities in every vote it has contested.
The move comes amid an ongoing overhaul of Kazakhstan's tightly controlled politics, with Tokayev set to step down when his term ends in 2029.
While Tokayev is no longer a member of the Amanat, having resigned in April 2022, a ‘People’s Coalition,’ which included Amanat and two other smaller parties backed his second presidential run in November of the same year.
The new Adilet party is seen as directly loyal to Tokayev, who Nazarbayev chose as his successor in 2019, with top aides to the President among its leadership.
In January 2022, Kazakhstan was roiled by nationwide protests sparked by rising fuel prices, which quickly turned into a wider protest about corruption, poverty and inequality in the country of 20.5 million.
The upheaval was jumped on by criminal armed groups and peripheral Salafist religious organisations, who quickly dominated the streets.
It is widely believed that allies of the former President Nazarbayev and his family used the opportunity to attempt to oust Tokayev and retake power.
The country’s intelligence chief Karim Massimov, a close ally of Nazarbayev, was arrested during the crisis and later convicted of treason.
Nazarbayev himself was ousted from the country’s Security Council, the body that assists the President with national security, by Tokayev.
Violence erupted cross the country during the unrest and Russia ended up sending a peacekeeping force to help Tokayev regain control.
Kazakhs voted overwhelmingly in March of this year to adopt a new constitution, which reduced the country’s legislature from two chambers to one and reintroduced the post of Vice President.
The current parliament is set to dissolve on 1 July.
Brazil has denied visa requests for two Trump administration officials who planned to travel to the country to cast doubt on the integrity of its elec...
A journey into one of the darkest chapters of the Baltic states' history. ...
India's Education Minister, Dharmendra Pradhan, resigned on Saturday, marking a significant victory for youth protesters who had been demanding that h...
Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief. Here are the top news stories for the 24th July, covering the latest developments you need to know.
U.S. strikes on Iran entered a 12th consecutive night, while Yemen's Houthis said they attacked two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea, urging President Donald Trump to warn Tehran it would be held responsible for any future Houthi attacks.
The U.S. military said it completed a fresh wave of strikes on Iran late on Thursday, marking the 13th consecutive night of American attacks. The latest operation lasted more than two hours, according to U.S. Central Command.
Spain has declared a national emergency and evacuated more than 10,000 people after uncontrolled wildfires reached the outskirts of Madrid. Emergency crews have rescued residents as multiple blazes continue to spread across the region.
Six candidates vying to become the next United Nations Secretary-General have called for restoring the organisation's credibility, strengthening multilateralism and reforming the UN, during the first public town hall debate ahead of a decisive Security Council vote next week.
A new state agency wants the world to take Georgian food as seriously as Georgians already do.
Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have signed regional and commercial agreements worth more than 80 billion tenge ($146 million). The deals aim to expand cooperation between the two Central Asian neighbors in trade, transport, industry and cross-border development.
UN Secretary General António Guterres arrived in Damascus on Saturday for the first trip to Syria by a serving United Nations' chief since 2009, before the start of a civil war that killed hundreds of thousands and displaced millions.
More than 100 Afghan business representatives travelled to Uzbekistan this week for a business forum aimed at expanding trade and investment, as Uzbek investors also expressed interest in Afghanistan’s mining sector.
Kazakhstan's grain sector faces a difficult season as drought reduces harvest prospects while mounting security risks in the Black Sea threaten to redirect cheaper Russian grain into Central Asian markets.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment