Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev, the 74-year-old incumbent, who has ruled over the former Soviet republic for more than 25 years, takes an oath during a presidential inauguration ceremony in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, on Wednesday. — AP ALMATY — Veteran Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, who was elected for a new five-year term at the weekend, on Wednesday proposed loyalist Karim Masimov to serve as prime minister again. The presidential press service announced Nazarbayev's proposal after Karimov's Cabinet resigned, a formal step paving the way for the formation of a new government. Masimov's reappointment is now little more than a formality in the lower Mazhilis chamber of Kazakhstan's parliament, which is dominated by Nazarbayev's ruling Nur Otan Party. Masimov, a 49-year-old economist who is fluent in several languages including Mandarin, had been Nazarbayev's chief of staff for two years before he was appointed prime minister in April last year. Nazarbayev, 74, has ruled the Central Asian nation with sweeping powers since 1989, when he became its Communist Party boss. On April 26, he won a new five-year term in a snap election, receiving 97.75 percent of the vote. The Organization for Cooperation and Security in Europe said there was a lack of credible opposition and voters “were not offered a genuine choice between political alternatives.” — Reuters
