Nursultan Nazarbayev confirmed as new President of Kazakhstan

Astana, 11th January 2006 - Nursultan Nazarbayev took the oaths of office as Kazakhstan President in a solemn atmosphere in the ceremony hall of Ak Orda residence.

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

The Chairman of Kazakhstan Central Election Commission Onalsyn Zhumabekov handled Nursultan Nazarbayev a certificate of the President of Kazakhstan.

The following is an extract from the News Bulletin of the Kazakhstan Embassy in te United Kingdom (16/1/06):

START EXTRACT: "The President then made a speech in both Kazakh and Russian. He said the successes of Kazakhstan in 14 years of independence were due to hard work and unity of the people of Kazakhstan.

“The most important achievement is that we built an independent state based on peace and harmony. We have established ourselves as one nation, aspiring for the future. We have established a new society committed to universal values. We have built a Kazakhstan model of economic development which ensures annual growth of the people’s wellbeing,” the President declared.

He stressed, “We have resolved three tasks of great difficulty: we have built our own state, created one of the most dynamic economies in the world and raised the living standards of our people in real terms. We have built our capital, Astana, in the heartland of Eurasia as symbol of our aspirations for the future which our guests call the pearl of the steppes."

Under President Nazarbayev, Kazakhstan dismantled the world’s fourth largest nuclear arsenal and became a strong advocate for nonproliferation and peace. It has settled its borders with all of its neighbors for the first time in history, creating an environment for peaceful development. Kazakhstan has enjoyed an economic growth of nine percent on average annually since 2000, and in seven years its economy has expanded by 75 percent.

The country has turned into a burgeoning oil power with inbound investment of more than US$40 billion and is set to join the ranks of the world’s 10 largest oil producers in the next decade.

Democracy took roots in Kazakhstan as evidenced by a hotly contested presidential election last December and the activities of more than a dozen of political parties, thousands of independent media outlets and nongovernmental organizations. A country of more than 130 ethnic groups and 40 different religions, Kazakhstan has managed to preserve peace and harmony and seeks to share its experience of tolerance with others.

The President went on to outline his goals for the new term: “For a long time I have had one goal, to make Kazakhstan one of the world’s 50 most competitive nations.” The President talked of the need to account all four dimensions of a developed state: economic, political, social and cultural and said, “This will require a comprehensive program envisaging serious economic, administrative, political and legislative changes. A great deal of work awaits us.” He noted Kazakhstan views its upcoming accession to the World Trade Organization and its plans to take the rotating presidency of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe through the prism of this task.

The President said striving for greater democracy while preserving the country’s stability, security and economic growth would be at the cornerstone of his policies. His three fundamental internal policy platforms would be “preserving interethnic and religious accord in the country, keeping the political stability against a backdrop of serious democratization of the political system and stringently preventing systemic threats to the country’s national security.”

Kazakhstan’s external security will be centered on keeping the country’s “international commitments in the sphere of energy security, the fight against international terrorism,” as well as on the “creation of a belt of good-neighborliness and stability along the entire perimeter of Kazakhstan’s border”.

President Nazarbayev has reconfirmed Kazakhstan’s commitment to “strategic partnership with Russia, China and the USA,” expanding cooperation with the European Union and Muslim countries and to closer relations with Kazakhstan’s Central Asian neighbors. He said “regional security demands a major breakthrough in the level of integration of Central Asia states.”

The inauguration followed President Nazarbayev’s landslide win in the December 4 presidential election. Guests included Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia, Viktor Yushchenko of Ukraine, Mikhail Saakashvili of Georgia, Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan and others. (END EXTRACT)