[2] In 1990, Ertisbaev was elected to the 12th convocation of the Supreme Soviet of the Kazakh SSR from the 105th Lenin electoral district in Karaganda.

He has served under Nazarbayev's administration by being director of the Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Studies under the President from April 1998 until becoming the head of the socio-political department in May 2000.

[7] During his tenure, he took part in the November 2018 meeting of the Council of Permanent Plenipotentiary Representatives of the Commonwealth of Independent States to the statutory and other bodies of the Commonwealth in the CIS Executive Committee in Minsk where he outlined that Kazakhstan stands for an open migration with a removal of trade barriers and bringing citizens together within the CIS.

[11] During that time, Ertisbaev described himself in wanting to work as a "free expert" after reaching his retirement age and that his pension amounted to 178,000 tenge.

Reporters for Kazakhstanskaya Pravda interviewed Ertisbaev in November 2006, asking him how he felt about British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen's movie Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.

However, he criticized Cohen's sense of humor as "black, insulting, insolent, and openly stupid... Paradoxically, after the film's release, we have seen a more ardent and avid interest in Kazakhstan.

"[15] When Interfax interviewed Ertisbaev in November 2004, he referred to Nurzhan Subkhanberdin, chairman of Kazkommertsbank bank, as a Kazakhstani "Khodorkovsky."

The political opposition in Kazakhstan will "have to wait for another 10 years" before they can take control of the government citing Nazarbayev's popularity and high chance of reelection due to the strength of the Kazakh economy.

"[19] A court sentenced Erzhan Utembayev, the head of the Senate administration, to twenty years in prison for his involvement in the assassination of opposition politician Altynbek Sarsenbayev on 11 February 2006.

Dariga Nazarbayeva, one of the most powerful Kazakh politicians and daughter of the President, responded to the conviction by calling on Nurtai Abykayev, the Speaker of the Senate, to resign.

Global Insight, an international think tank, linked her criticism of Abykayev to her rivalry with Timur Kulibayev, the husband of her sister Dinara.