Day of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan (01/12)

The first winter day of 2012 became another holiday and day off for residents of Kazakhstan. Starting this year, December 1, the country celebrates the Day of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

In December 2011, at a plenary meeting of the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Law «On Amendments to the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan «On Holidays in the Republic of Kazakhstan» was adopted. The Day of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan was established with the aim of celebrating and recognizing the outstanding services of the first President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev to the Republic. But in the fall of 2022, in the Mazhilis of the Parliament of Kazakhstan, it was proposed to «define the celebration of the Day of the First President on December 1, similar to such significant dates as the Day of State Symbols, the Day of Gratitude and other dates with high socially significant potential, excluding it from the list of public holidays», about which the corresponding law was adopted.

The historical prerequisite and basis for choosing the date of the holiday was the event that took place on December 1, 1991, — as a result of the first popular elections, Nursultan Abishevich Nazarbayev was re-elected as president of the Kazakh SSR. He was the only candidate and won with 98.7% of the vote, with 88.2% of voters voting.

One of the first steps of the first president was the signing of a law renaming the Kazakh SSR to the Republic of Kazakhstan on December 10, 1991. And six more days later — On December 16, 1991, the — Supreme Council declared the state independence of Kazakhstan, which meant the proclamation of Kazakhstan as a sovereign state.

The first December days of 1991 were truly turning points and fateful for Kazakhstan, which determined the path of development of the independent Republic.

Currently, Kazakhstan is recognized by the international community as a modern democratic state. Considerable credit goes to the first President Nazarbayev, who has headed the Republic since the establishment of the office on April 24, 1990. on March 20, 2019, he resigned as president of his own free will.

On the holiday itself, which begins with the solemn ceremony of raising the standard of the head of state and presenting the flag of the state security service, various cultural, sports and other festive events are held everywhere.

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