New chairman of parliament elected in Kazakhstan

The former Prosecutor General of Kazakhstan, Kayrat Mami, has become the new chairman of parliament.

The former Senate Chairman Kasym-Zhomart Tokayev was dismissed and appointed as the head of the UN office in Geneva.

Tokayev’s dismissal was initiated by Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev. His initiative was approved by the parliament.

Tokayev was appointed to the UN office in Geneva in March, becoming the first Asian representative in the post. Tokayev was also Secretary General of the UN Conference for Disarmament.

Mami was born in the Zhambyl district in the Alma-Ata Region on May 9, 1954. He graduated from the law faculty of the Kazakh State University. He has held the posts of deputy justice minister, deputy head of the presidential administration and chairman of the Supreme Court. He is married with three children.

The chairman of the Kazakh Supreme Court, Musabek Alimbekov, was dismissed at a plenary session of the Senate, initiated by Nazarbayev.

The dismissal took place against the background of a major scandal. The anti-corruption police accused six judges of the Supreme Court of corruption. Alimbekov requested his dismissal when the scandal started.

Nazarbayev expressed satisfaction with the new government, headed by Karim Masimov, News Kazakhstan reports.

Masimov was reappointed for the third time on April 8, 2011. He was appointed after Nursultan Nazarbayev, who has been in power for 20 years, won early elections.

Kazakhstan saw the appointments of new ministers of agriculture, sport and tourism, economic development and commerce, industry and new technologies, transport and communications, foreign affairs and interior affairs. There were also replacements at the Samruk-Kazyn Fund. All vice-premiers remained unchanged.