Over 77% of Kazakh voters support constitution amendments
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The vote was called by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, who vowed political reforms in March, most notably by reducing the power of the presidency and strengthening parliament.
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A voter casts her ballot during a constitutional referendum at a polling station in Kazakhstan (REUTERS)
Chairman of the Central Election Commission (CEC) in Kazakhstan Nurlan Abdirov said Tuesday that a sum of 77.18% of Kazakh voters who participated in the referendum on June 5 has backed the constitutional amendments.
Abdirov told a CEC meeting that "[A total of] 77.18% of those who took part in the voting in all regions of the country, or 6,163,516 people, voted for the constitutional amendments. This amounted to an absolute majority in each of the 17 regions," stressing that the amendments to the constitution "go into effect from the date of publication of the official report on the results of the referendum."
The vote was called by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, who vowed political reforms in March, most notably by reducing the power of the presidency and strengthening parliament.
He also advocated for less government involvement in the economy and for efforts to close the wealth gap.
The referendum took place on Sunday, and included specific proposed amendments such as prohibiting the death penalty and barring some officials from joining political parties. However, they were primarily focused on backing Tokayev's overall strategy.
