Kazakhstani voters may revoke their ex-president’s vast privileges
But constitutional changes would still leave the current one with plenty of power
When kassym-zhomart tokayev became president of Kazakhstan in 2019, he promised his people a “listening state”. But even a deaf one would have heard the clamour in January, when Kazakhstanis took to the streets to register their displeasure at rising fuel prices. As the protests spread, the demand morphed into one for broad political change. Some 230 people were dead before order was restored to the streets.
This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “The rights of one man”
Asia June 4th 2022
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- Kazakhstani voters may revoke their ex-president’s vast privileges
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