Kazakhstan moves to extend presidential term, rename capital

Kazakhstan’s parliament on Friday voted unanimously to support constitutional amendments that would extend the presidential term to seven years and rename the country’s capital.
The changes are part of an array of political and economic reforms President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has called for after violent protests rocked the country in January, killing more than 200 people. The unrest was sparked by a sharp rise in fuel prices, but also reflected widespread dismay with the country’s politics, which for over 30 years had been dominated by Nursultan Nazarbayev and his party.
The amendments passed in two readings by the Kazakh parliament on Friday extend the presidential term to seven years from the current five, but also bar any president from running for a second term in office. They also move to rename the country’s capital, Nur-Sultan, back to Astana.