The new vice-president may be the potential successor of Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
Medianews.az reports that this was stated by political scientist Yuri Solozobov, director of regional projects at the Caspian Strategic Research Institute, in an interview with Lenta.ru.
"The vice-president can be Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s successor, and quite soon," he noted.
The expert emphasized that several figures are already being considered among the candidates for the vice-president position. Among them are state advisor Erlan Karin, who oversees constitutional reform and represents the new generation of politicians, as well as the chairmen of the Senate and Mazhilis (the two chambers of Kazakhstan’s parliament), Maulen Ashimbayev and Erlan Koshanov.
Yuri Solozobov also called the introduction of the vice-president position one of the main provisions of Kazakhstan’s new constitution. This position existed in the republic back in the 1990s but did not justify itself at that time.
Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev approved the country’s new constitution on March 17. It was adopted based on the results of the referendum held on March 15. 87 percent of the voters participating in the vote supported the draft of the new fundamental law./publika.az