Kasim Jomart Tokayev, has been sworn in Saturday as president of Kazakhstan after winning re-election in last Sunday’s vote, in which he won with a hefty 81.31 percent, according to data from the Kazakh Electoral Commission.
In his oath of office speech, Tokayev promised to «be faithful» to the trust that the Kazakh population has placed in him, and pledged to advance towards the transformation of the Asian nation into «a prosperous state».
In this line, the Kazakh leader has echoed a national saying that questions «What good is wealth, if you do not collect it honestly? What good is power, if you do not create justice?». «This is the rule of my life and what I live by,» Tokayev has pointed out, as reported by the official social networks of the Presidency.
«I promised to be loyal to the dreams of my country. I have sworn never to betray loyalty and betray the interests of the country (…) This oath in front of my people will be an indispensable iron rod for me in my future positions,» he has asserted.
He also sent a message of gratitude to «all those who took part in the elections», elections in which he won hands down over the other candidates, although this has cost him a small reprimand from organizations such as the European Union.
According to the EU-27, which recognized Tokayev’s victory and congratulated him for it, but criticized the lack of political competition in the elections and asked Astana to strengthen «the process of reforms to increase political pluralism and citizen participation in political life».
Kazakhstan faces a reform process following a major wave of protests over rising fuel prices in early 2022 that were violently suppressed and eventually contained with the deployment of a Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) contingent.
