Kazakhstan holding snap presidential elections

By Beyza Binnur Donmez

ANKARA (AA) - Kazakhstan is holding a snap presidential elections Sunday where the incumbent appears certain to win a new term.

Nearly 12 million voters will go to ballot boxes to cast their votes.

The call for early elections was made by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in late September with a decree that said the election will launch "an electoral cycle that will lead to a radical reset of the entire political system."

The announcement of early elections came days after Tokayev approved a constitutional amendment to increase the presidential term to seven years from five while barring future presidents from serving a second term.

Another change made was changing the capital’s name to Astana. It was changed to Nur-Sultan in 2019 in tribute to then-outgoing President Nursultan Nazarbayev.

Tokayev took over as president in March 2019, succeeding Nazarbayev, who ruled the oil-rich Central Asian nation for three decades.