Kazakhstan’s Tokayev gets Nazarbayev’s backing, nominated for presidency

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on Tuesday secured veteran leader Nursultan Nazarbayev’s backing to run in a June 9 snap presidential election. The move eliminates much of the uncertainty about political transition plans in the former Soviet republic of 18 million people. Nazarbayev, who leads the oil-rich Central Asian nation’s biggest political party, Nur Otan, asked party members at a pre-election congress on Tuesday to officially nominate Tokayev, a 65-year-old former diplomat. “Having known him for many years, I consider him the worthiest candidate in the country for this position today,” Nazarbayev said before the party voted unanimously in favor of his proposal, Reuters reports. Tokayev, previously speaker of Kazakhstan’s Senate, assumed the presidency last month in line with the constitution when Nazarbayev resigned after almost three decades.