Kazakhstan´s new acting president Kasim-Gumart Tokayev, who was inaugurated on Wednesday after President Nursultan Nazarbayev´s sudden resignation, named the country´s capital Astana to become the "Sultan" after the name of its ruler for nearly 30 years.
The Kazakh parliament on Wednesday voted in favor of the new president´s proposal to change the name of the capital to "Sultan."
"Astana´s name has now been officially changed to Sultan," the official news agency KAZINFORM said after the parliament vote.
Nur Sultan Nazarbayev, 78, the only president Kazakhstan has known since independence, was the latest to announce his resignation on television on Tuesday. But he has retained important jobs that provide him with an important role in the country´s politics.
In a sign of his continued influence, his daughter Darega Nazarbayeva, 55, was appointed Wednesday as president of the Senate.
Kasem-Jumart Tokayev, 65, who was named acting president on Wednesday, was replaced by a speaker at the parliament.
