A number of observers in Kazakhstan reacted with skepticism to the decision to designate Kassym-Jomart Tokayev as the successor to the country’s first president, Nursultan Nazarbayev. This shift in leadership is discussed in Nazarbayev’s memoir, where he reflects on the transition and its surrounding reactions. The narrative highlights that Tokayev was entrusted with the presidency after Nazarbayev voluntarily stepped down, a move that aligned with the constitutional process in the republic. The former president’s voluntary resignation in 2019 transferred the presidential powers to the speaker of the Senate, who at that moment was Tokayev, marking a formal handover of authority within the framework of Kazakhstan’s law.
Nazarbayev recalls that a portion of the public and political circles greeted the change with hostility. He notes that Tokayev’s long career in diplomacy had prepared him for the role, a fact he emphasizes to frame the transition as grounded in experience rather than upheaval. He also mentions that several opponents of the decision contemplated pursuing the presidency themselves, but these ambitions were allegedly pursued in secrecy, underscoring a climate of political maneuvering around the leadership change.
The former leader observes that those who opposed the appointment to succeed Nazarbayev did not manage to convert their opposition into a lasting challenge after the transition. Nazarbayev suggests that, once the general election took place, the public may have accepted the new order and the authorities’ decisions as the established direction for the country. The memoir also touches on previously shared explanations about the reasons behind Nazarbayev’s departure from the presidential post, framing them as a considered step in Kazakhstan’s political evolution.