The 1st Founding Congress of the "Otan" Republican Political Party (; ) in

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

was held on 1 March 1999. President

Nursultan Nazarbayev Nursultan Abishuly Nazarbayev (born 6 July 1940) is a Kazakhstani politician who served as the first president of Kazakhstan from 1991 to 2019. He also held the special title of Elbasy from 2010 to 2022 and chairman of the Security Council of ...

was unanimously chosen to be the chairman by the 385 delegates.

Background

On 21 October 1998, a public association in supporting Nursultan Nazarbayev's reelection campaign in the 1999 presidential election was created. On 19 January 1999, a meeting of the public association was held, at which it was decided to transform the organization into the Otan party. On 1 March 1999, the 1st Congress was held, which was attended by 385 delegates and 117 invited guests in Almaty. The delegates of the Congress chose Nazarbayev to be the chairman and adopted the composition of the audit commission and the party Charter.

Aftermath

Nursultan Nazarbayev refused to accept the post as chairman due to constitutional limits on president's affiliation with political parties. He suggested that former Prime Minister

Sergey Tereshchenko Sergey Alexandrovich Tereshchenko (; 30 March 1951 – 10 February 2023) was a Kazakhstani politician. He served as the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan from 1991 to 1994 and later as the acting chairman of Otan from 1999 to 2002. Life and caree ...

take over the role to which he remained until 2002. Nazarbayev nevertheless remained as a de facto Chairman and the party went on to participate in the

1999 legislative election 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

References

{{reflist, 30em Political parties in Kazakhstan