ASTANA, June 15 (RIA Novosti) - Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev was granted by his country's lawmakers the title of "Leader of the Nation," that gives him a wide range of privileges after the expiration of his presidential term.
The relevant law was unanimously passed by the lower and upper houses of the Parliament of Kazakhstan.
However, Nazarbayev was against signing this law, saying that main provisions of presidential immunity were already stated in the Constitution of his country.
Under the law, Nazarbayev will enjoy life-long immunity from prosecution, with the falsification of his biography to be considered a criminal offence.
In particular, Nazarbayev cannot be detained, arrested, be brought to trial on criminal or administrative charges for his activities committed while performing his presidential duties, and activities related to the performance of his status of the first Kazakh president.
Nazarbayev ruled the Central Asian state for almost 21 years, as first secretary of the Kazakh Communist Party from 1989, and since the breakup of the Soviet Union as president of Kazakhstan.
Kazakh lawmakers proposed earlier creating a museum dedicated to the first Kazakh president and building a monument to Nazarbayev in the republic's capital, Astana.
In 2008, they requested that Astana be renamed Nursultan in the first president's honor but Nazarbayev rejected the motion.
