Nur-Sultan Residents Back Reverting of Kazakhstan Capital's Name to Astana
07:12 GMT 15.09.2022 (Updated: 07:25 GMT 15.09.2022)
© AP Photo / Sergei Grits
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NUR-SULTAN (Sputnik) - Residents of Kazakhstan's capital city, Nur-Sultan, supported the idea of renaming it back to Astana during public hearings, the local representative authority (maslihat) said on Thursday.
Astana was renamed into Nur-Sultan in March 2019 to honor Kazakhstan's first president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, who was finishing his almost 30-year tenure at the time. The initiative was put forth by his successor, incumbent President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, and enshrined into the constitution by the parliament the same day.
On Tuesday, the city's maslihat appealed to citizens with a proposal to express their opinions on the idea of renaming the capital. Public hearings on this issue were held in an online format among residents of the city and representatives of the public.
"We are grateful to the first president, but the name itself, maybe it was rushed," Kazakh Institute of State History deputy director Ayagan Burkutbay said during the hearings. "The onomastic commission carefully considered our proposal to return the name of Astana to the city and considered that it is more suitable, and most importantly, it allows us to unite society. Because we see a rift. I think that Nursultan Abishevich [Nazarbayev] will probably understand this too, and I think he will not be offended."
According to the local representative authority, the costs of renaming the city will be significantly less than three years ago when Astana became Nur-Sultan.
"In general, government agencies spent about 30 million tenge [$63,100] on changing the official document forms and seals in 2019. I think this year the costs will be much lower, taking into account the transition to digital documentation," Nur-Sultan maslihat spokesman Yerlan Kanalimov said.
Later in the day, Kanalimov announced that members of the Nur-Sultan maslihat have voted to return the previous name of the Kazakhstan's capital.
"The decision was made," Kanalimov said, announcing the voting results of the extraordinary session of the maslihat.
On September 2, Kazakh lawmakers proposed returning the name Astana to the capital of the country. This proposal, alongside with the initiative to introduce a single seven-year presidential mandate, is included in the draft amendments to the constitution. The Constitutional Council announced on Wednesday that it had considered the bill and recognized it as conforming to the constitution.
