Voters in Kazakhstan approved a new constitution in a referendum on Sunday, exit polls showed, in a move critics say could strengthen presidential powers and potentially allow President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to remain in power beyond 2029.

Two exit polls indicated that about 87% of voters backed the new constitution, with turnout at around 73%, according to the election commission.

What are the key amendments under the new constitution?

Under the new constitution:

• the office of vice president, abolished in 1996, is to be recreated
• the president is to be given authority to appoint the vice president
• the head of state would also appoint top officials such as the heads of the central bank, the intelligence services and the constitutional court
• the senate, which used to approve top appointments, is to be abolished
• a new single-chamber assembly called the Kurultai is to be created
• the president is to be able to dissolve assembly and rule by executive orders if the parliament refuses to approve presidential nominees to key posts twice
• regulations around freedom of speech are to be tightened, saying it must not "undermine the morality of society or violate public order"

Amendment might tighten controls over democratic institutions

Experts say the changes could allow Tokayev to reset presidential term limits or install a successor through the vice presidency.

Currently, the president is limited to a single seven-year term, a rule introduced in 2022.

Speaking after voting in the capital Astana, Tokayev said the next presidential election would take place in 2029 when his term ends and insisted that there are "absolutely no grounds for worry that this [the new constitution] will have a negative impact on society."

Former president Nursultan Nazarbayev, who ruled from 1991 to 2019, said he supported the new constitution.

Political analyst Viktor Kovtunovsky told AFP news agency the measures amounted to a "dismantling of liberal concessions" Tokayev had been forced to make in recent years.

Already, several critics of the reforms have been detained and questions by the police, while journalists have been fined for publishing independent opinions on the polls.

Kovtunovsky also foresees the president's move as an attempt to "prepare the throne for his successor."

Human Rights Watch warned the changes threaten civil liberties.

Kazakhstan, Central Asia's largest economy and a major energy and minerals producer, has maintained tight political control since independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

Edited by: Saim Dušan Inayatullah