Section III

THE PRESIDENT

Article 40

1.  The President of the Republic of Kazakhstan will be the head of state, its highest official determining the main directions of the domestic and foreign policy of the state and representing Kazakhstan within the country and in international relations.

2.  The President of the Republic will be the symbol and guarantor of the unity of the people and the state power, inviolability of the Constitution, rights and freedoms of an individual and citizen.

3.  The President of the Republic will ensure by his arbitration concerted functioning of all branches of state power and responsibility of the institutions of power before the people.

The new Constitution elevated the status of the head of state and delegated additional power to the President. The new administration was established instead of the Cabinet of Ministers.

In compliance with changes and amendments made to the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan on 21 May 2007, the powers of the Parliament in relation to accountability of the government before the supreme legislative authority was expanded.

On 11 January 2006, the official inauguration of President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev was held at his residence “Akhorda”. The delegations from more than seventy countries attended the inauguration ceremony.

According to the Constitution, Nursultan Nazarbayev held his hand on the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan and read the oath to the people of Kazakhstan:

“I solemnly swear that I will faithfully serve the people of Kazakhstan, strictly observe the Constitution and the laws of the Republic of Kazakhstan, guarantee the rights and freedoms of the citizens, and honestly perform the high duties of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan entrusted to me.”

The next stage of the inauguration included a very memorable action — President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev kissed the flag of the country.

Source: NURSULTAN NAZARBAYEV: THE FOUNDER OF THE INDEPENDENT STATE (The Chronicles of a Leader) published in Almaty, 2010,  pp. 94-97

Data was given from the Institute of State History, Committee of Science of The Ministry of Education and Science