Changes to the Constitution received support from the majority of citizens of Kazakhstan
The referendum held in Kazakhstan the day before was recognized as valid, with a turnout of over 73% of voters.
According to preliminary data from an exit poll conducted by the Eurasian Integration Institute, 86.7% of voters supported the new version of the Constitution. The survey covered about 30,000 people at 200 polling stations in 17 regions and three major cities of the country.
Another survey conducted by the private foundation "Institute of Comprehensive Social Research - Astana 'Socis-A'" recorded a support level of 87.4%. The Public Policy Institute of the Amanat party also reported that 88.6% of respondents expressed support for the new version of the fundamental law.
The Central Referendum Commission is required to provide official results within a week.
According to preliminary data from the Central Election Commission, the overall turnout was 73.24%, corresponding to 9,126,850 voting citizens of Kazakhstan.
The highest turnout was registered in the Kyzylorda region — 93.04%, while Almaty, the largest city in the country, showed the lowest turnout — 33.43%. In the capital, Astana, the turnout was 60.36%.
The new constitution was developed at the initiative of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. The draft proposes, in particular, to abolish the bicameral parliament and replace it with a unicameral Kurultai. The president is also granted the right to unilaterally appoint the Attorney General, the chairpersons of the Constitutional and Supreme Courts, the head of the National Bank, and the director of the National Security Committee.
In addition, it is planned to introduce the position of vice president, appointed by the president with the consent of the unicameral parliament. The president will have the ability to dissolve the Kurultai if this body does not approve the nominations for the positions of vice president, prime minister, and speaker twice.
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