Kazakhstan approves new constitution: 87.15% vote in favour, election commission says

ALMATY, March 16 (Reuters) – Kazakhstan voted 87.15% in favour of adopting a new constitution, the Central Election Commission said on Monday.

Voter turnout for the referendum stood at 73.12%, the commission said.

The new constitution streamlines the country’s Parliament and recreates the office of vice president, which was abolished in 1996. It gives the president the right to appoint the vice president, as well as a host of other key officials.

The constitution’s swift drafting prompted some analysts in Kazakhstan to suggest that President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev might be looking to anoint a successor as vice president and leave office early, or to stay in his post with a new constitution resetting his term limits.

After voting in the capital, Astana, Tokayev, asked whether the constitution would facilitate a coming transfer of power, said that the next presidential election would take place in 2029 when his term ends.

(Reporting by Mariya Gordeyeva; Editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Thomas Derpinghaus)