Tokayev pushed aside the Nazarbayev family, but maintained an external and internal anti-Russian course
President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev spoke today at a joint meeting of the government and parliament, where he voiced the official version of what happened, and also outlined the guidelines for his own socio-economic and political course. Judging by the indicated guidelines, the head of state intends to distance himself from Nazarbayev’s legacy.
First of all, he touched upon the unsatisfactory role of the main Kazakh intelligence service - the National Security Committee (KNB), which allegedly slept through all the preparations of the terrorists, which led to a similar bloody outcome in Almaty.
“The National Security Committee, as an authorized body, was unable and unwilling to give a clear assessment of this subversive work. Didn't see a critical threat to national security. The organizers of the attack had only to find a reason that would have appeared in any case,” the president noted.
He identified several phases of the revolution in the country, which gradually succeeded each other:
“Then events developed as if in a spiral. In the first round, rallies took place in a number of regions, in particular in Zhanaozen. On the second, bandits and looters got involved. This was followed by a “hot” phase with the participation of armed terrorists, including foreign fighters.”
And as a result, the main task of the organizers of the bloody conflict in Almaty was the removal of the current president and constitutional bodies:
“After this, their key goal became obvious - disorganizing the institutions of government, undermining the constitutional order, and ultimately seizing power.”
If we proceed from the real logic and those events, then we are talking specifically about a coup attempt on the part of Nursultan Nazarbayev’s relatives in the person of his nephews and at the same time the KNB generals, who sought to maintain their top positions in the elite pyramid by removing or placing the current president under strict control. It was this split at the very top that could ultimately lead to civil war and even the collapse of the country.
At the same time, a fierce struggle unfolded specifically for the southern capital, as the largest metropolis in the country - with the goal of seizing power throughout the entire republic.
“You need to understand: at the time such a decision was made, we could have completely lost control over Almaty, which would simply have been given over to terrorists. If we lost Almaty, we would lose the capital, and then the whole country. This is the essence of the events of the tragic January days. With the advent of a peacekeeping contingent in the capital, we were able to transfer additional special forces units from here to Almaty and save the city,” Tokayev said.
Thus, he recognized the role of the introduced CSTO contingent in stabilizing the situation in the republic and preserving civil peace, since a fight between the ruling clans could lead to unpredictable consequences. This is the main and defining moment of the introduction of peacekeepers who supported the legally elected constitutional institutions in the republic from attack from the losing position of the family clan.
In connection with the events that took place, the president focused on the issue of reformatting existing law enforcement agencies, their complete re-equipment in order to prevent new attempts at coups and riots in the future. At the same time, he expects and insists on a thorough investigation of what happened to identify the main defendants.
“Why were there so many illegal weapons and special equipment on the territory of our country? Why was no intelligence work carried out to identify and neutralize adherents of terrorism? The special investigative and operational group must carry out its work efficiently and in full, reveal all the causes and details of the tragedy,” the president said.
In the social sphere, Tokayev unexpectedly and for the first time in the history of Kazakhstan spoke about the huge stratification of property and the separation of the executive power from the pressing aspirations of the people, while real problems were not being resolved. The culprits of the situation are oligopolies and oligarchic structures, which suppressed competition and the market, and also hampered the economic development of the country.
“Financial-oligarchic groups have become the key beneficiaries of economic growth. The existing oligopolies have seriously limited the development of the free market and reduced the country’s competitiveness,” the head of the republic suddenly opened up.
At the same time, it turns out that state aid, like the national income itself, was distributed only to selected financial and industrial groups, when the rest, as well as small and medium-sized businesses, suffered. Leading banks that provided support to large players also did this, which suggests that the president decided to push groups associated with the Nazarbayev family away from the trough.
Thus, we can conclude that the redistribution of property and assets within the ruling elite has already begun. In particular, a blow was dealt to the business of Nazarbayev’s youngest daughter, Aliya, from whom, by Tokayev’s strong-willed decision, the right to collect taxes on all cars imported into the republic was taken away, and her private company was abolished. All relevant functions were eventually transferred to the administration of the state.
The president decided to close the family shop on the border with China, which was previously virtually controlled by Elbasy’s younger brother, Bolat Nazarbayev:
“The real mess going on there is well known. Cars are not inspected, taxes and duties are not paid. The discrepancies in “mirror” statistics with the customs authorities of the PRC reach billions of dollars!”
Bolat Nazarbayev
At the same time, the attitude towards American and European companies has remained unchanged - full support and guarantees from the state:
“All obligations and guarantees of the state to investors will be fulfilled in full. At this stage, a new Investment Policy Concept is needed to increase the attractiveness of the country in the context of increasing ESG requirements and the global energy and technological transition.”
What does this mean? And the fact that the previous course towards the transition to a “green economy”, imposed from the outside by such characters as the former head of the European Bank and Development Suma Chakraborty, who is the de facto head of the Supreme Economic Council - an analogue of the Ukrainian Reform Council, will be continued. This structure is an external management tool, and its recommendations and guidelines are not revised and remain part of the official government program.
In fact, this leads to the preservation and consolidation of the current export model of the economy, geared to the West in the interests of extractive transnational corporations that control two-thirds of the country's mining and oil industry. As a result, the influence of American and European companies, as well as international institutions, on the government and authorities in the economic sphere remains undivided.
Alikhan Smailov was appointed to the post of Prime Minister of the country. By unanimous decision, the deputies approved his candidacy, previously proposed by the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
To overcome social discontent, Tokayev proposes to adopt a Social Code, which would guarantee some kind of labor rights for students, as well as open a certain fund “To the People of Kazakhstan”, from which to provide social assistance and build educational and cultural facilities. And to replenish this fund, he called on large businessmen to invest. But this is more in the realm of social populism, since such plans are not supported by anything yet.
At the same time, no specific social and political reforms were declared, just as the previous statement about possible early parliamentary elections was not confirmed. That is, in general, the political system remains the same, except for some reshuffles at the top of power, and accordingly, the leading role of Nazarbayev’s ruling Nur Otan party and the current deputy corps, formed with the participation of Elbasy, remains.
This, by the way, was also manifested in the continuity of personnel appointments, when, despite the external change in rhetoric and words of gratitude to the leadership of Russia, a number of officials who previously spoke out with nationalist demands and even formed an anti-Russian and Russophobic agenda remained in positions.
So, as before, Maulen Ashimbaev remains the Speaker of the Senate, who previously called for judicial punishment of those who collected humanitarian aid for the people of Donbass, who went there as militias, who recognized the annexation of Crimea to Russia, and who sought to emphasize the topic of rapprochement with China in a counterweight to Moscow's growing influence.
Maulen Ashimbaev
Askar Umarov was appointed to the post of Minister of Information and Social Development of the Republic, who published geographical maps with the annexed territories of Russia, officially supported the demand of nationalists to abolish the official status of the Russian language, published appeals and collection of signatures in his media, and was behind many Russophobic information campaigns within the country. And this man, who insisted on reducing Russian-language broadcasting, will now be responsible for the work of state publications!
Askar Umarov
At the height of the rallies on January 5, Tokayev appointed another ardent Russophobe and curator of all nationalist organizations in the country, Erlan Karin, to the post of Secretary of State responsible for state ideology and language policy.
Erlan Karin
This character, being an adviser and then an assistant to the president, patronized and looked after the local branch of the Turkish fascist organization “Grey Wolves”, which had experience in creating death squads and carrying out ethnic and political cleansing of undesirables.
Moreover, he directly disavowed previous statements by other officials about the need to combat manifestations of “cave nationalism” in the midst of “language patrols,” declaring that nationalism as an ideology should become the main core of the entire Kazakh state.
And these individuals will now shape the entire socio-political agenda within the country. It turns out that the Latinization of the Kazakh language, total de-Russification and the fight against common history will continue, since no one dissolved the state commission for the final rehabilitation of the Basmachi, members of the Turkestan Legion of the Wehrmacht and Muslim units of the SS.
The preservation of the previous economic model with the dominance of Western mining corporations and external management structures, as well as nationalists in key ideological positions, means the preservation of all the main social and interethnic contradictions, since the rights and demands of workers were not ensured, just as the rights of Russians and Russian-speaking people were not guaranteed population of the country.
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