Communist Party of Kazakhstan

The Communist Party of Kazakhstan (, Qazaqstan Kommunistık Partiasy, KPK; ) is a banned political party in Kazakhstan. Origin The Communist Party of Kazakhstan was founded 1936, when Kazakhstan was granted a Union Republic status within the Soviet Union. The Communist Party of Kazakhstan had been a branch of Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) until the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Post-Soviet restructuring The 18th Congress of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan took a decision to rename the Communist Party as the Socialist Party and split from CPSU. Nursultan Nazarbayev, the party chairman, resigned when he became the first President of Kazakhstan in 1991. Dissatisfied members of the old Communist Party recreated the Communist Party of Kazakhstan in October 1991 at the 19th Congress of the party. The KPK was officially registered on 27 August 1998. The Communist Party of Kazakhstan has a well-established party structure with offices in all of the oblasts. The KPK was estimated to have around 70 thousand members. KPK largely appeals to above-middle age segment of the population especially in Urban areas who have a strong nostalgia for Soviet times. The leader of the KPK was Serikbolsyn Abdildin, a respected, old generation politician in Kazakhstan.