Aiqyn Qongyrov

Qongyrov was born in the village of Kuibyshevsky in the Kokshetau Region. After graduating from high school in 1989, he joined worked as a locksmith at the motor depot of the Kuybyshevsky District Agricultural Administration. In 1997, Qongyrov graduated from Kokshetau State University and eventually attended the Themis Law Academy of Karaganda, where he received a law degree in 2005.

From 2004 to 2011, Qongyrov was actively engaged in entrepreneurial activities and led the News Print LLP, which was responsible for the publication of the Moscow Komsomolets in Kazakh newspapers.

In 2004, Qongyrov became a member of the Organizing Committee for the establishment of the Communist People's Party of Kazakhstan (QKHP) and the moment of the party's registration, he headed the apparatus of the Central Committee until 2012. During his tenure, in 2005–2006, Qongyrov worked in Almaty as the second secretary of the city committee of Almaty and then became a member of the bureau of the QKHP Central Committee in 2008.

In the 2004 and 2007 legislative elections, Qongyrov was amongst people that ran for MP from the QKHP for the lower house Mazhilis, though the party failed to win any seats during its early years. It wasn't until in 2012, as the QKHP managed to bypass the needed electoral threshold to enter the parliament resulted in Qongyrov being elected as a lawmaker. During his first term in office, he served as a member of the Mazhilis Committee on Agricultural Issues.

On 17 September 2018, Qongyrov became the parliamentary leader of the People's Communist Party, succeeding Vladislav Kosarev.[2]

In April 2019, Qongyrov stated that he considered running for president in the 2019 Kazakh presidential election, however, the QKHP chose Jambyl Ahmetbekov who had previously ran in 2011 to be the candidate.[3]

On 11 November 2020, the QKHP changed its name to the People's Party of Kazakhstan. From there, Qongyrov was unanimously elected as the party's chairman at its 15th Extraordinary Congress.[4]