[11] On 20 November 2001, at the Khabar Agency broadcast, Tokayev threatened to resign from his post as the PM unless President Nursultan Nazarbayev would dismiss several government officials whom he accused of being "intriguers" such as Deputy PM Oraz Jandosov, Labour and Social Protection of the population minister Alikhan Baimenov, Pavlodar Regional äkim Galymzhan Zhakiyanov and Deputy Defense Minister Janat Ertlesova by trying to decentralise the country's executive branch and slow down the democratization programs.

[17] During the interview to BBC News in June 2018, Tokayev hinted a possibility on Nazarbayev's succession by expressing his belief that he wouldn't run for re-election as his presidential term was to end in 2020.

[19] From there, he guaranteed electoral transparency and insisted that Kazakhstan is a democratic state which Tokayev cited as reason for a president to be elected according to the "will of the people" as well as eliminate "political uncertainty".

[39] In June 2019, following a military ammo deposit blast in the town of Arys which resulted in evacuations of residents and hundreds of injuries, Tokayev launched a criminal case and ordered the Interior and Defence ministries to prevent possible more explosions, pledging that any perpetrators would be prosecuted.

From there, he spoke of optimizing Kazakhstan's social system, increasing productivity and a greener economy, leveling business conditions, investing more in education and overseeing the state's administration as it becomes more sensitive and accountable.

[55] In autumn 2020, Tokayev announced date for 2021 legislative elections, where he asserted that the electoral and political process had been liberalised to allow for greater involvement in civil society and that the newly incoming parliament convocation will focus on support for socio-economic reforms.

[57] In the aftermath of vote, the ruling Nur Otan despite losing dozen seats, topped the results in which the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) citied that the elections "lacked genuine competition".

[65] On 16 March 2022, Tokayev proposed constitutional reforms to limit the powers of his office, saying the country needed to switch from "superpresidential" rule to a presidential republic with a strong parliament.

Subsequently, during the referendum on June 5, 2022, a provision was introduced into the Constitution according to which, during the period of exercise of his powers, the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan must not be a member of any political party.

[67] After assuming office, Tokayev outlined main directions for Kazakhstan which were increasing the incomes of population, eradication of corruption, judicial reforms, creating new jobs with decent wages, solving housing issues, fair social policies, regional developments, spiritualism, foreign national interests and youth opportunities.

[82] During Tokayev's first months in office, in an attempt to reduce burden on socially vulnerable segments for the population; government bailouts for banks were put to an end and a system of loan forgiveness was implemented.

[86] A series of packages were unveiled in response, which aimed at easing burden for private sector by providing cheaper credit, tax incentives, cutting back on audits and promoting employment.

[88] Tokayev, in response, blamed the government and the central bank for being too "powerless" and from there, urged them to reduce the inflation rate, noting the surplus amount of the money supply that exists in the state budget.

[89] In September 2021, Tokayev called for an increase of the national minimum wage for the first time since 2018, citing the global pandemic that affected the purchasing power for citizens and asserted that it would lead to growth in domestic consumption.

[90][91] In terms of wage fund, Tokayev instructed the government to implement soft measures in encouraging businesses to raise salaries for employees by pledging for state-supported benefits.

[95][96] In an attempt to curb the spread of the virus, Tokayev ordered the cancellations of both the Nowruz celebrations as well as the Victory Day military parade in honour of the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe.

[115][116] The Ministry was given the authority to protect the environment, oversee the rational use of natural resources, geology and reproduction of the mineral and raw materials base, as well as the treatment of solid household waste, water and wastewater, and forestry.

[118] He instructed the government, city äkımat, and Samruk-Energy to implement final decision in the transformation of the Almaty-2 thermal power station to natural gas in order to limit harmful emissions that come from the plant which is estimated to be 30% of all other sources, warning that any delay would be "absolutely unacceptable.

[125] He appointed Erzhan Kazykhanov to the post, whom was instructed to deal with issues of expanding international cooperation in the humanitarian sphere, climate diplomacy, as well as promoting Kazakhstan's key foreign policy initiatives.

[129] On 18 August 2021, he instructed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to attempt to provide a maximum assistance in returning ethnic Kazakhs residing in Afghanistan, while noting that the issue of accepting Afghan refugees would not be considered.

[134] In late 2020, Russian lawmakers Vyacheslav Nikonov and Yevgeny Fyodorov made remarks on how the entire Kazakhstani territory was a gift given by the Soviet Union and that was currently being leased by Russia.

[157] Following the breakout of the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, Tokayev called on Armenia to withdraw from the disputed territory, citing the United Nations Security Council accordance to which he claimed that the Armenian government failed to fulfill for its past 30 years.

Tokayev also rejected the proposed construction of the Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline to Azerbaijan, in which the EU officials desired due to the likelihood of opposition from other nations bordering the Caspian Sea.

On 2 February 2020, he met with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during his visit to Astana where both sides expressed the importance of deepening bilateral ties across the entire spectrum of cooperation, including trade, investment, IT technologies, promoting democratic values and combating international terrorism.

Pompeo wished for Tokayev in his success in implementing political reforms with an open skies agreement being signed which created a legal basis for launching direct regular flights between Kazakhstan and U.S.[163] According to some analysists, Pompeo's visit to Kazakhstan was seen as an attempt to counter China's influence within the country as he had met with ethnic Kazakh families of whom were victims of the Xinjiang internment camps and urged for Tokayev to pressure China over its persecution of ethnic Uyghur and Kazakhs.

[169] Because of that, Tokayev has been described as "Nazarbayev's political birthchild",[170] while his opponents and critics referred him as "furniture" (Russian: мебель, mebel), a ridicule term first coined by exiled Kazakh businessman Mukhtar Ablyazov in 2019.

He said that Kazakhstan is "highly vulnerable to climate change as a landlocked and developing state" with a heavy reliance on fossil fuels and proposed for the planting for two billion trees within the country in order increase carbon absorption and curb looming desertification problems.

[174] Tokayev described his vision regarding corruption, calling it a "direct damage to national security" and advocated for the need of accountability for implementation of state programs and the use of budget funds by äkıms.

[175] On 28 November 2019, he signed the "On Amendments and Additions to Certain Legislative Acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Civil Service and Anti-Corruption Issues" law into place, which obliged government ministers and äkıms to resign if the top officials within institutions are found guilty of corruption.

[181] During the 2021 State of the Nation Address, Tokayev noted that Russian is an official language within Kazakhstan, adding that its use can't be hindered in accordance to the law and from there, he obliged to punish to any person taking part in discriminating on the basis of "linguistic and national grounds", a move that was viewed to have occurred in result of a backlash by Russian officials after a viral incident on YouTube showing Kostanay native Quat Ahmetov visiting places and forcing employees to speak Kazakh which led to a series of criminal cases by security agencies and Ahmetov fleeing the country.