Status: 11.01.2022 1:45 p.m.
It is a power struggle between old and new heads of state: Kazakhstan’s President Tokayev has sharply criticized his predecessor Nazarbayev. He created a rich elite in the country and favored them.
Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has accused his predecessor, Nursultan Nazarbayev, of favoring a rich elite in the country. Tokayev said that under his government, “even by international standards, a class of rich people had emerged.” So far, the president has rarely criticized his influential mentor, Nazarbayev, who ruled Kazakhstan for many years.
“I believe it is time to pay tribute to the people of Kazakhstan and to help them systematically and regularly,” said Tokayev. Among other things, “very profitable companies” should pay into a state fund. He expects the “active participation of people who have great wealth but who stay in the background,” added Tokayev in a video conference with officials and MPs.
The president also announced that he would take action against the monopoly of a widely criticized private recycling company with ties to Nazarbayev’s daughter Aliya Nazarbayeva. Recycling should be a government agency “as is the case in other countries,” he said. Several relatives of the former head of state control economically important posts in the country.
Many dead and injured, nearly 10,000 arrests
Almost a week ago, displeasure over the rise in fuel prices in the oil- and gas-rich ex-Soviet republic had turned into protests against the government. In addition to peaceful demonstrations, there were also violent riots, especially in the metropolis of Almaty. The old government had submitted its resignation in the course of the protests.
The riots left dead and injured; the exact number of victims is still unclear. Media reported, citing the Ministry of Health, of at least 164 deaths. However, the Ministry of Information later withdrew the notice. According to Tokayev, there were 16 dead and more than 1,600 injured among the security forces. The number of civilian deaths is “currently under review”. According to the Tengrinews Agency, which cites the Ministry of the Interior, around 9,900 people were taken into custody during the protests.
Power struggle between Tokayev and Nazarbayev
Observers suspect a power struggle at the top of the country behind the unrest. Nazarbayev’s spokesman emphasized that the ex-head of state, who is said to still have great influence in the country, supports Tokayev. However, Nazarbayev has not appeared in public since the beginning of the crisis. In addition, the ex-head of the domestic intelligence service, Karim Massimov, an important ally of Nazarbayev, was arrested.
Nazarbayev was the defining figure in Kazakhstan as president for almost three decades. The now 81-year-old ruled the country with a hard hand after its independence from 1991 to 2019. Tokayev described Nazarbayev in his utterances with the honorary title of “leader of the nation”, which secures him extensive privileges and immunity from prosecution.
New Prime Minister and troop withdrawal
After the nationwide unrest, President Tokayev last spoke of the “complete order” having been restored. “He proposed former finance minister Alichan Smailov as the new prime minister, who was subsequently confirmed by parliament.
Tokayev also announced the withdrawal of the troops he had requested from the member states of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) in support of the protests. The Russian-led military alliance had sent thousands of soldiers. In two days, the withdrawal should begin gradually, said Tokayev in a speech in parliament.