23 September 2026 President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed decrees appointing ten judges of the Constitutional Court, six members of the Central Election Commission (CEC) and eight members of the Supreme Audit Chamber (SAC).
CONSTITUTIONAL COURT
Saken Abdolla, Leila Zhakayeva, Kairat Zhakipbayev, Aizhan Zhatkanbayeva, Aigul Kydyrbayeva, Kanat Musin, Bakyt Nurmukhanov, Sergey Skryabin, Aslan Tukiyev and Sergey Udartsev have been appointed to the Constitutional Court.
The name of Saken Abdolla was mentioned in a court dispute surrounding the construction of the Orleu hotel in Shymkent. The defendant in the dispute was Abdolla's mother — Baimenova — and the appeal proceedings were heard by the chairman of the Shymkent court, Yerbol Rakhimbekov.
In 2020, the publication Vremya wrote about a situation in which Kairat Zhakipbayev, who at the time held the post of head of the committee for legal statistics and special records, sought a review of a court decision. According to the publication, his order had previously been declared unlawful. Zhakipbayev sent a request to the chairman of the Supreme Court asking him to initiate a review. The publication also raised the question of a possible conflict of interest, since Zhakipbayev and the chairman of the Supreme Court were graduates of the same law faculty and personally acquainted.
The name of Kanat Musin found itself at the centre of a public dispute during his time as Minister of Justice. In 2022, it became known of a court case surrounding 333,900 tenge which, according to the former head of the Centre for Forensic Examinations, had been spent on sewing curtains, tulle, a sofa cover and the purchase of stationery for the minister's office. A representative of the Ministry of Justice did not confirm these claims at the time, and the disciplinary commission pointed to insufficient evidence of a loan for these purposes.
Sergey Skryabin had a different story — a court dispute with the newspaper Kazakhstanskaya Pravda. As Skryabin himself later described the case in a legal publication, the newspaper used the name "Sergey Skryabin" as a pseudonym for a number of articles. He went to court, claiming a violation of the right to a name. The court of first instance granted some of the claims, but the appeal changed the decision. In the end, the case became a public dispute about the right to a name and the use of a pseudonym, rather than a criminal case.
CENTRAL ELECTION COMMISSION
Azamat Aimanakumov, Mikhail Bortnik, Mukhtar Yerman, Asel Zhanabilova, Lyazzat Suindykov and Shavkhat Utemisov have been appointed to the CEC. All six had previously served on the commission and received repeat appointments.
SUPREME AUDIT CHAMBER
Bakyt Abildinov, Rakhimzhan Dildayev, Amangeldy Isenov, Gabiden Zhaksylykov, Ruslan Meldebekov, Nurlan Nurzhanov, Ardak Tengebayev and Yulia Engel have been appointed members of the Supreme Audit Chamber.
CONTEXT
The decisions were taken after the opening of the first session of the first-convocation Kurultai on 28 August 2026. The transitional provisions of the new Constitution provide for the appointment of heads of agencies within two months of the opening of the session.
On 18 September, Tokayev reappointed Elvira Azimova as Chairman of the Constitutional Court, Nurlan Abdiruly as Chairman of the CEC and Alikhan Smailov as Chairman of the SAC.
On 22 September, the President approved the composition of the Qazaqstan Khalky Keňesi. The new body includes 126 people — among them former MPs, ex-ministers, heads of major companies, athletes, journalists and public figures.