Kazakhstan: President dismisses daughter of his predecessor, number 2 in the regime

Text by: Régis Genté Follow

In Kazakhstan, Dariga Nazarbayeva, the eldest daughter of the former president, has just been dismissed from his post of president of the Senate this Saturday. It is therefore no longer number 2, and therefore potential head of state in the event of a vacancy in power, of the immense ex-Soviet republic, rich in oil. It may be a turning point for succession in this authoritarian Central Asian regime. Dariga Nazarbayeva, 56, was appointed president of the Senate in March 2019, immediately after the surprise departure of her father Nursultan Nazarbayev from the presidential chair, which he had occupied for 28 years.

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From our regional correspondent,

It is a real surprise. The presidential decree announcing the resignation of Dariga Nazarbayeva from the post of president of the Senate is perplexing. Is this a resignation taken in agreement with the "leader of the nation", Nursultan Nazarbayev, the ex-president still powerful and who has long dreamed of a family succession at the head of the country?

Or is it a coup by the head of state, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, elected in July last year? The latter struggles to impose itself against Nursultan Nazarbayev who heads the Security Council, with reinforced powers.

The question is important, as the example of Kazakh succession is followed in the former Soviet space and in Asia. It is a little early to understand the meaning of this resignation of the ambitious eldest daughter of the ex-president.

It can be noted that Dariga Nazarbayeva was weakened by a scandal triggered by her own son, who claimed at the beginning of the year that his mother and other family members were involved in a corruption mechanism linked to the sale of gas. to Russia.

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