Kazakhstan held a constitutional referendum that passed with an overwhelming 87.15 percent approval, according to the country’s Central Election Commission. The new constitution streamlines the national parliament, recreates the office of vice president (abolished in 1996), and grants the president the power to appoint the vice president and other senior officials. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was among the first to congratulate President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on the “historic” vote. Critics, however, are likely to view the reforms as a further consolidation of presidential power in the Central Asian state.
