Nazarbayev dismissed Dariga to preserve his reputation

The reshuffle of the speaker of the Kazakh Senate Dariga Nazarbayeva from the second post in the country to political obscurity (the decree of the president Kassym-Zhomart Tokaev on May 2) surprised the world, since there is no such thing in eastern despots. The speaker’s father is alive and occupies the highest lifelong post of elbasy (father of the people), and the eldest daughter (or son) should only go forward. After the death or resignation of the supreme - yes, then they can be sent to prison as it happened with the daughter of the former president of the neighboring country Karimov. However, Nazarbayev is alive! Kazakhs destroyed the stereotype of eastern hereditary power!?

The press is full of versions. Russian expert Vadim Dubnov, in his analytical article, discusses the possibility of a conspiracy between the President of Kazakhstan Tokaev and Nazarbayev, who is tired of the scandals of his daughter Dariga and her sons.

Dubnov puts forward a version of Nazarbayev’s disease. He expects Dariga to start a political war with Tokaev, especially since she is the second leader of the Nur Otan Party; but the founder (1999) and the permanent leader of this party remains Nursultan Nazarbayev, who is also the head of the National Security Council of Kazakhstan. Will Dariga conflict with her father, split the party of power? It is hard to believe.

The version of the palace coup in favor of Kasym-Zhomart Tokayev is unbelievable, because the president is Nazarbayev’s nominee. Yeltsin nominated Putin, but Putin defeated the Yeltsin team; supporters of Putin call the first president of Russia a drunkard. That is, drowning the "godfather" in the countries of despotism is a common practice. However, this happens only after the complete resignation or death of the former ruler. The elbasy, who personally called on the Kazakhstanis to support Tokaev’s candidacy in the elections, retains the power of the supreme and indiscriminate ruler of the country.

In an article published in the BBC, some experts tend to consider the displacement of Nazarbayev’s daughter from an important post as a kind of coup. This decision means that Tokaev gradually becomes a full-fledged and sovereign leader of the country. Just over a year ago, an element of safety and a counterbalance in the person of Dariga Nursultanovna was needed, just in case. Now this element that irritated the incumbent president and prevented him from making the necessary decisions is being removed,” said in an interview Andrey Grosin, the head of the Central Asian and Kazakhstan Department of the Institute of the CIS countries.

An important remark: Grozin believes that Tokaev could not make such a decision alone without notifying Nursultan Nazarbayev. He believes that in order to lead Kazakhstan out of the post-pandemic crisis, Tokaev needs his own team, and Dariga does not fit into this team.

Today, power needs unity and consolidation. It has to take the country out of the state of emergency and quarantine. Extremely complex work is ahead to develop an anti-crisis program, a radical reorganization of the economy, and complex structural reforms. All this requires the concentration of all power in the hands of the second president of Kazakhstan,” wrote Kazakh political analyst Aidos Sarym (BBC) in his Telegram channel.

Dariga and her children really got in the way; but she was not dismissed, she left the post of speaker of parliament of her own free will. President Tokaev thanked her for her work. These nuances indicate the "good" received from Nursultan Nazarbayev, and agreement with the new fate of Dariga herself.

The Nazarbayev clan had no other choice. In March of this year in London, authorities  froze the property rights of relatives of Nursultan Nazarbayev - two mansions and an apartment were confiscated. The property was froze the spring of 2019, however, the court revealed the owners only this spring - they turned out to be the daughter and grandson of the ex-president of Kazakhstan. The British authorities ordered them to prove the origin of about $ 100 million for the purchase of real estate in an expensive area of ​​the capital.

“Dariga Nazarbayeva, her son Nurali Aliyev and his wife Aida purchased real estate worth more than $ 100 million. At the same time, the owners registered the mansions and the apartment in three offshores,” BBC writes. It is emphasized that the current market value can be much higher. At the request of British law enforcement officers, a huge mansion was arrested in 2019; it was located on one of the most expensive streets in Bishops Avenue - with an underground pool and a cinema.

The British authorities also arrested a house in the prestigious Highgate district of London and a large apartment in Chelsea. Then the state authorities of Britain reported that this property is associated with a politically prominent figure, but the owners were not indicated. The grandson of the former head of Kazakhstan, Nurali Aliyev, asked the court to keep secret  the addresses of London houses for the safety of his children, but received a refusal from the judge.

All property is registered in three offshore companies registered in the Netherlands Antilles, Panama and the British overseas territory of Anguilla. Investigators from the National Agency for the Fight against Crime (NCA) suggest that all of the property was bought with the proceeds of the father of Nurali Aliyev and Rahat Aliyev, the ex-husband of Dariga Nazarbayeva.

Rahat Aliyev was known for criminal activity since the 2000s. After a quarrel with Kazakh President Nazarbayev in 2008, he was stripped of all ranks, ranks, and titles, and was sentenced in absentia to 20 years in prison on charges of killing two bankers. Subsequently, he was hiding in Austria, where he previously held the post of Ambassador of Kazakhstan. Despite repeated demands for extradition to his homeland, for some time Aliyev was protected by the Austrian police, where he applied for political asylum. In response, he opened a criminal case - Aliyev was imprisoned in Vienna, where in February 2015 he committed suicide.

Dariga Nazarbayeva’s life in her homeland also proceeded with scandals - in December 2013, she proposed to take children to boarding schools for the disabled. According to her, they will be able to look at the "freaks" and understand what the ill-conceived sex life leads. “I believe that from time to time children should be taken on an excursion to children's homes, to boarding schools for children with disabilities, so that they can see that this is the result of ill-conceived sex life - premature. Let them look at these freaks. It works better than the tens of hours spent talking and giving lectures,” said Dariga.

The capital of Kazakhstan was named after Nursultan Nazarbayev. There is no doubt that the bright image of the creator and permanent leader of Kazakhstan, great elbasy, blackens his family. In order to save the status of the great elbasy, Nursultan Nazarbayev had to do something under this circumstance. A compromise solution that suits both Nazarbayev and Tokaev was the quiet removal of members of the Elbasy family from all the levers of governing the country, without arresting or condemning them. For this case, there are low-level pawns.

There are no other versions. The Kazakh press does not discuss the event, which shows the preservation of the authority and strength of Nazarbayev-senior in the country.

Nazarbayev’s authority in the country is unquestioned, his resignation or weakening is out of the question, according to ASTNA referring to the Kazakhstan’s high corridors.  Nazarbayev is fully supported by Russian President Putin, which is an extremely important circumstance for a Central Asian country.