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Politics

The Kurultai builds itself in an afternoon, and the government's clock waits on two names

Kazakhstan's new parliament finished its own construction on Friday: a speaker elected by secret ballot, three deputy speakers, 8 committees, all inside the opening sitting. The executive it faces stayed unbuilt. President Tokayev accepted the Bektenov cabinet's resignation in the morning and told deputies he will submit a prime minister and a vice-president once the chamber's structure stands, which by late afternoon it did.

By CAW Staff28 August 2026
The Kurultai builds itself in an afternoon, and the government's clock waits on two names

The first session opened at 11:00 Astana time on the state broadcaster's feed, 145 deputies seated, 110 of them from Adilet. Minutes later the decree was on the wires: the government's resignation accepted, the Bektenov ministers working on in acting capacity until a new composition is approved.

Aibek Dadebay took the chair. Tokayev nominated him, voting booths stood in the foyer, a commission of 9 deputies ran the vote, and no tallies had been published by the time this edition closed.

After the structure of the Kurultai is formed, I will submit to the deputies the candidacies of a vice-president and a prime minister.

Dadebay ran the presidential administration from February 2024 and took the helm of Adilet on 7 May; 16 weeks later the party held 110 seats of 145 and its leader held the chamber's gavel.

On his nomination the chamber elected three deputy speakers: Nurlan Beknazarov, a former senator; Daniya Yespayeva of Ak Zhol, a former Majilis vice-speaker; Dinara Zakiyeva, the children's rights ombudsperson. Eight standing committees followed the same afternoon.

The third name points at the first bill. Tokayev told the chamber he backs the government's move to bar children under 16 from registering on social networks and wants it examined, in his words, in priority order; he also asked for the implementation mechanics to be worked out in advance, so that the act does not remain on paper.

For the cabinet he set a sequence rather than a date. "After the structure of the Kurultai is formed, I will submit to the deputies the candidacies of a vice-president and a prime minister." The structure was complete by late afternoon. The nominations were not.

The clock that matters has not started. Under the constitutional law on the government, the 10-day window for proposing the new cabinet's structure and composition opens at the prime minister's appointment. Until Tokayev names one, the ministries run toward next week's Bishkek summits in acting mode.

The record took two more dates: the vice-presidency, promised on Sunday's arithmetic of "a week or ten days", legally has 2 months from the session's start; and a Qazaqstan halyq kengesi, a national council, is to be formed in the second half of September.

Two names now stand between a finished chamber and a working government. Both are on the president's desk.

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