Kazakh Presidential Election, President Tokayev Secures Re-election with Over 80% Votes in Exit Polls

Constitutional Amendment from 5-Year Renewable Presidential Term to 7-Year Single Term
Tokayev's Term Extended from 2024 to 2029

[Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] In the presidential election held in Kazakhstan, the incumbent president, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, is expected to be re-elected. Exit polls predict a victory with over 80% of the vote, extending President Tokayev's term until 2029.

According to TASS news agency on the 20th (local time), an exit poll conducted by the Kazakhstan Open Society Research Institute after the voting ended showed President Tokayev winning with 82.45% of the vote. Another exit poll conducted by the Public Policy Research Institute of the ruling Amanat Party also showed President Tokayev leading with 85.52% of the vote.

This election was an early presidential election held under Kazakhstan's constitutional amendment to a single seven-year term. Six candidates, including incumbent President Tokayev and candidates from opposition parties such as the National Social Democratic Party, participated. However, due to the lack of a competitive rival, local forecasts early on predicted that President Tokayev would win with a large margin.

President Tokayev, who was nominated as the ruling Amanat Party's presidential candidate in early last month, pledged to continue political modernization based on three principles: a fair state, a fair economy, and a fair society.

The Central Election Commission of Kazakhstan announced that 69.43% of the approximately 12 million eligible voters cast their ballots. In the previous early election held in June 2019, the overall turnout was 77.4%. According to Kazakhstan law, the election is valid regardless of turnout, and the winner must secure more than 50% of the vote. Preliminary results are scheduled to be announced on the 21st.

President Tokayev was elected in June 2019 with an overwhelming 70.96% of the vote following the resignation of Nursultan Nazarbayev, Kazakhstan's first president who ruled for 30 years. After suppressing large-scale anti-government protests triggered by a sharp rise in fuel prices in January, he has been pushing for major reforms.

According to these reforms, Kazakhstan's presidential term was changed from a five-year renewable term to a single seven-year term through a constitutional amendment last September. As a result, President Tokayev's original term, which was to end in 2024, was cut short, leading to the early election. With his landslide victory in this election, his term is expected to be extended until 2029.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.