Tokayev strips Nazarbaev of right to address nation on foreign policy
President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has deprived Nursultan Nazarbayev of the right to address the people of Kazakhstan on matters of foreign policy. Tokayev, by decree, has made changes to the country's foreign policy concept until 2030; the document was published on the portal of normative legal acts of Kazakhstan.
Consensus
- President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev issued an order to amend Kazakhstan's Foreign Policy Concept for 2020–2031.
- The amended concept removed references to Nursultan Nazarbaev's lifetime right to make policy initiatives on foreign affairs.
- The concept now states 'continuity of foreign policy course at a new stage of development' instead of referencing Nazarbaev's course.
- The term 'Parliament' was replaced with 'Kurultai' in the document.
- The changes were made in line with the new Constitution of Kazakhstan.
- Nursultan Nazarbaev served as President of Kazakhstan from 1991 to 2019.
- The new Constitution was approved in a referendum in March 2023.
Points of divergence
- The phrase 'continuity of foreign policy course' was shortened from 'continuity of foreign policy course of the first president — Elbasy Nazarbaev' to 'continuity of foreign policy course on a new stage of development'. — vm
- The removed clause granted Nazarbaev lifetime rights to address the people on both internal and external policy and national security issues. — kommerant
- The list of international platforms for promoting foreign policy initiatives was updated, retaining only the International Astana Forum. — vedomosti
- The order was issued on August 14, 2026, and published in the legal database. — interfax
Coverage (6 sources)
- Tokayev deprived Nazarbayev of the right to address the people of Kazakhstan on foreign policy issues — ЭХО / Новости
- Tokayev excluded mentions of Nazarbayev from Kazakhstan's foreign policy concept — Вечерняя Москва
- Tokayev forbade Nazarbayev from addressing the people on foreign policy issues — Коммерсантъ
- Tokayev deprived Nazarbayev of the right to speak with initiatives before the people of Kazakhstan — Ведомости
- In Kazakhstan, reference to Nazarbayev's course was excluded from the foreign policy concept — Вести
- Nazarbayev officially deprived of the right to address the people with initiatives on Kazakhstan's foreign policy — Интерфакс