Kazakh president named candidate of newly formed coalition for snap election

By Meiramgul Kussainova

ASTANA, Kazakhstan (AA) - Kazakhstan's president on Thursday announced his candidacy for the newly formed "People's Coalition" in the country's upcoming early presidential election next month.

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev was nominated to run in the election, slated for Nov. 20, as the candidate of the coalition, formed of three political parties and over 30 public associations.

At a meeting with the members of the newly created coalition on Thursday, Tokayev thanked them for their trust and support, adding that the upcoming election would determine the future of the country.

After the presidential vote, parliamentary and local elections will also be held gradually, he said. "With these elections, the governing bodies will be qualitatively updated on the basis of new fair principles."

He went on to say that their main goal was to build a just Kazakhstan and vowed that the fight against corruption would resolutely continue.

Kazakhstan's parliament speaker, Yerlan Koshanov, had told reporters that the three political parties represented in the country's legislature -- Amanat, the People's Party of Kazakhstan, and Ak Zhol -- had decided to nominate the current president as their candidate in their extraordinary congress held earlier on Thursday.