Abish Kekilbayev

On 11 March 2010, Kekilbayev was removed from the post as a Senator by the Decree.

In 2009, during the opening of the Qazaq Eli monument in front of the Palace of Independence, Kekilbaev praised Nazarbayev saying “our genius people know to whom they entrust their fate. The first president is a special president. The central figure of the white marble monument may well become the first president of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, who is a symbol of our past filled with heroism, filled with the creation of today, full of bold undertakings of tomorrow."

From 30 October 1996 to 29 January 2002, Kekilbayev served as State Secretary of Kazakhstan. In 2002, he was an advisor to President Nursultan Nazarbayev. That same year, Kekilbayev was appointed member of the Senate of Kazakhstan and served in the Senate's 2nd, 3rd and 4th convocations. During his term, he became a member of the Asar political faction in the Parliament in 2004, a party led by Nazarbayev's daughter Dariga. When explained his decision, Kekilbayev responded saying “I became a member not of the Asar party, but of its faction. My goal is to bring real benefits in life and society through lawmaking, the direction of the Asar party is most consistent with this goal."

In May 1995, Kekilbayev was appointed State Advisor to the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan. In December 1995. he was elected as a member of the 1st Mazhilis. From there, he served as chairman of the Committee on International Affairs, Defense and Security.

In an interview published in 1995 in the Yegemen Qazaqstan newspaper, Kekilbayev told that "I would not have come into politics if I were not a writer. I would not be an artist, I would not become a fighter. The problems that made me think as an artist are the problems that make me think as a citizen. How can I give up the opportunity to solve problems in real life when I solved them in an imaginary world?"

From April 1994 through May 1995, he was the Chairman of the 13th Supreme Council of Kazakhstan which put the prerequisites of further development of parliamentarianism in Kazakhstan. Kekilbayev noted that:

In 1990, Kekilbayev was elected as MP of the Supreme Soviet of the Kazakh SSR of the 12th Convocation from the Bayanaul electoral district No. 166 of Pavlodar region (having gained 52.6% of the votes, defeated two rivals), he headed the Committee on National Policy, Development of Culture and Language. With his direct participation, the Laws of the Republic of Kazakhstan "On the press and other mass media", "On the protection and use of historical and cultural heritage", "On freedom of religion and religious associations" and others were prepared and adopted.

After joining the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan in 1975, Kekilbaev published a number of essays in the spirit of communist propaganda. When discussing the new 1977 Constitution of the Soviet Union, he instead criticized the Constitution of the United States in the newspaper Socialist Kazakhstan where Kekilbaev wrote saying "Soviet people understand the draft of the new Constitution of the USSR as a new achievement of human thought in the persistent struggle for justice, as a new contribution to the consistent teaching of Marxism-Leninism."

President Nursultan Nazarbayev on the eve of the Independence Day awarded Kekilbayev the Highest State Title "Kazakhstannyn Enbek Eri" for his services to the country and contribution to the development of culture and literature, his active public activity. The head of state personally presented him this highest honor. Nazarbayev said that he presented the title to Kekilbayev at the solemn event devoted to his 70th anniversary. He stated that "his works as well as political and public activity represent his significant contribution to the strengthening of Independence, establishment of a new state, formation of high spiritual life of our society."

From 1963 to 1965, he was the head of the department of literature and art of the editorial office of the newspaper "Leninshil zhas". Then he worked in the repertoire and editorial board of the Kazakh SSR Ministry of Culture. In the period from 1968 to 1970, Kekilbayev served in the Central Asian Military District in the ranks of the Soviet Army. During his service, he took part in the border conflict near Lake Zhalanashkol between Soviet border guards and Chinese military personnel.

Kekilbayev is the author of a collection of poems "Golden Rays" (1963) and a collection of stories "A Flock of Cloud" (1966), "Steppe Ballades" (1968), articles "Face to Face with Time", essays "Cranes", "Steppe Ballades", "Snow in March", "The Ballades of the Forgotten Years", "The End of a Legend" and "Pleiades - Constellations of Hopes."

Born in the village of Ondy, Kekilbayev graduated from the philological faculty of the Al-Farabi Kazakh National University in 1962. He then began his career as a literary employee of the newspaper Qazaq adebieti.

Abish Kekilbayev (sometimes Kekilbayuly, Kazakh: Әбіш Кекілбайұлы, Äbış Kekılbaiūly, [æbɘʂ kʲekɘlbajo̙ɫɯ]; 6 December 1939 – 11 December 2015) was a Kazakh National writer and politician who served as a Senator of Kazakhstan from 2002 to 2010, State Secretary of Kazakhstan from 1996 to 2002, and the Supreme Council Chairman from 1994 until its dissolution in 1995.