Nur Otan

2006–2013: Rebranding and further developments

On 4 July 2007, at the 11th Nur Otan Extraordinary Congress, Nazarbayev declared himself as sole leader of the party. This came after the dissolution of the 3rd Mazhilis in June 2007 and amendments to the Constitution of Kazakhstan, which removed limit on president's activities with political parties during his term of office. At the congress, Baqytjan Jumagulov became the First Deputy Chairman while Kairat Kelimbetov and Sergey Gromov were elected as deputy chairmen and the amendments to the Constitution which changed Kazakhstan's electoral system, the Nur Otan presented 127 persons in the party-list which were scheduled to be elected for the first time through proportional representation. In the August 2007 legislative elections, the Nur Otan won 88.1% of the vote and all the contested seats, making it the highest share for the party in history while other parties were unable pass the 7% electoral threshold, thus leaving the Nur Otan to have a sole party representation in the Parliament. This made the party become a central factor in the political decision-making process within the government, being compared to the Communist Party of the Soviet Union by the opposition.