"It will take years, because there are a number of legal procedures that have to be carried out. We are just at the beginning of this process..."
Mr. Nazarbayev's Kazakhstan is a fundamentally undemocratic place.
The leaders of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan are gathering in the Caspian coastal city of Aktau, Kazakhstan's main Caspian port.
Domestic and international pressure on Kazakhstan appears to be building as the case of prominent human rights activist Yevgeniy Zhovtis, who was convicted earlier in September of vehicular manslaughter a car that killed a pedestrian, is moving into the appeals phase.
Kazakhstan, one of the early victims of the global crisis, is ready to sacrifice future growth rates in favour of stability and will likely keep tight state control over the economy as it recovers.
The Kazakhstan presidency said on Thursday a resident of a provincial city had asked President Nursultan Nazarbayev to stay in his post for life