In Kazakhstan, President Tokaev is gradually regaining control of the country

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

AFP - CHRISTOF STACHE

Text by: Régis Genté Follow

2 mins

Demonstrations in early January, peaceful at first, motivated by rising fuel prices, turned violent, no doubt in favor of a coup attempt by the clan of the former president , Nursultan Nazarbayev, who led the country from 1990 to 2019.

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From our correspondent in Central Asia

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The clan of the former president bears the brunt of the ongoing purges.

In recent weeks, under the mode of so-called voluntary resignations, prominent members of Nursultan Nazarbayev's family have fallen.

His daughter Dariga was removed from the governing bodies of Nour Otan, the presidential party.

Her husband resigned from the Board of Directors of KazakhGaz, a major public energy company.

Same thing for the husband of the third daughter of the former president, who had to leave his seat at KazakhOil.

Aliya, the third daughter, who sees her business attacked, in the field of railways or waste treatment.

And as the Nazarbayev clan reigned for 30 years, over the whole country, in particular over its economy, driven by the oil sector, it is a number of followers who lose their jobs.

Starting on January 6 with the head of the security services, Karim Massimov.

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A partial dismantling

Part of the Nazarbayev clan, however, seems not to lose its positions.

This is the case of the second son-in-law of the former president, Timour Kulibaïev, who is nicknamed “Mr. Oil”, and who keeps his economic assets.

Better, his trusted men remain in place.

And he manages to have some appointed to positions of responsibility, such as the new energy minister, Bolat Akchoulakov.

The president announced the creation of a fund where what he called the “caste” of people who had become very rich thanks to Nazarbayev would have to contribute to finance social programs.

But it is not a tax, written into the law.

And it is to be feared that what will be paid into the fund will remain symbolic and that, moreover, it will be a means for the authorities to use it at discretion, as a tool of political constraint on certain companies.

► Read also: Kazakhstan: Janaozen, the origins of the revolt

Strong expectations from Kazakhstanis

This may not sit well with a society that seems to voice its grievances, as seen in many other former Soviet republics in recent years.

The 19 million Kazakhstanis give Mr. Tokayev a chance, but they expect the authorities to serve the people who want their share of the oil and gas windfall.

And already there are small gatherings in the west of the country where the oil and gas fields are.

The message: remind the Head of State that he promised more social equity.

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• Kazakhstan

• Nursultan Nazarbayev

• Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

• Energies