Kazakh president Tokayev takes over as ruling party leader

FILE PHOTO: Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev attends a session of the Council of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan November 28, 2019. Sputnik/Alexei Nikolsky/Kremlin via REUTERS

ALMATY (Reuters) -Kazakhstan's ruling Nur Otan party elected President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev as its chairman on Friday, his office said in a tweet, finalising the transfer of political power from his predecessor Nursultan Nazarbayev.

Nazarbayev, who resigned in 2019, had retained sweeping powers until this month as the chairman of the security council and the head of Nur Otan, which dominates parliament. Tokayev took over the security council position at the peak of violent unrest nL1N2TV0BY in early January.