Nazarbayev, Nursultan << `nahz` ahr BY ehf, `nur` suhl TAHN >> (1940-…), was the first democratically elected president of Kazakhstan. He served from 1991 until his resignation in March 2019. Kazakhstan, formerly a republic of the Soviet Union, declared its independence shortly after Nazarbayev’s election in 1991. The country replaced its Communist government system with one based on democratic principles. However, during his nearly 30 years in office, Nazarbayev dismissed the government several times, and international monitors frequently criticized the country’s presidential elections as undemocratic.
Nazarbayev was born on July 6, 1940, near Almaty. He graduated from the Technical University at Qaraghandy Metallurgical Combine in 1967. From 1984 to 1989, Nazarbayev was prime minister of the Soviet republic of Kazakhstan. He was first secretary of the Kazakh Communist Party from 1989 to 1991. In 1990, the Supreme Soviet (legislature) elected him president of Kazakhstan. He quit the Communist Party in 1991 as the Soviet Union fell apart.
As president, Nazarbayev worked to replace Kazakhstan’s traditional government-run economy with one that promoted free enterprise. To do this, his government sold some state-owned factories and farms to private citizens. He opposed all efforts to split Kazakhstan into two countries, one inhabited chiefly by its Kazakh people, and the other by its Russian people. Nazarbayev was criticized for increasing his power as president and for restricting freedom of the press.
In 1995, voters extended Nazarbayev’s presidential term to 2000. He was reelected in 1999 and 2005. In May 2007, Nazarbayev approved constitutional amendments that allowed him to run for president an unlimited number of times. He was reelected in 2011 and 2015. International monitors criticized these elections as undemocratic and accused Nazarbayev of silencing his critics.
In March 2019, Nazarbayev resigned as president. The speaker of Kazakhstan’s Senate, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, then became acting president. Nazarbayev remained in his positions of chair of the security council and leader of the Nur Otan party, which held a majority of the seats in the parliament. Kazakhstan’s parliament also changed the name of the nation’s capital from Astana to Nur-Sultan to honor Nazarbayev.
In early 2022, the lifting of government controls on fuel prices led to a large antigovernment protest movement. The protest movement partly blamed Nazarbayev for conditions in Kazakhstan, and his popularity declined. Nazarbayev resigned as chair of the security council and as Nur Otan party leader. Other government leaders began to distance themselves from him. In September, the parliament voted to change the name of Kazakhstan’s capital from Nur-Sultan back to Astana.
