Split of elite in Kazakhstan

Baku/10.01.22/Turan: Events in Kazakhstan are still in the center of attention of the world community. In connection with the numerous human casualties of the tragic events that occurred in a number of regions of this country, the President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev, decided to declare January 10, 2022, a day of national mourning. Many protesters were arrested. The authorities announced the arrest of 4 thousand "terrorists". Will opposition be able to silence the protest?

Political observer Zardusht Alizade answers this and other questions in the "Difficult Question" program.

According to him, the increase in prices for liquefied gas in Kazakhstan played the role of a trigger for subsequent events, because despite the fact that it is a very rich country, the social product is distributed unfairly in it - the top gets the lion's share, and the bottom has to be content with miserable remnants.

“There are a lot of unemployed young people in the country who see that the ruling class lives in luxury, the middle class lives more or less decently - the thinnest stratum that makes up 1.5% of society and a lot of poor people who can hardly make ends meet (indecipherable). Ex-President Nursultan Nazarbayev cleaned up the political field, as a result there were no institutions (political parties, trade unions, etc.) in the country (illegible), no independent media, no culture of dialogue. In a word, there were no legal institutions for expressing the accumulated public protest in the country. That is why the protest was sharply radicalized and the peaceful rallies that have turned into pogroms,” Alizade said.

In addition, according to him, a split of the elite took place in Kazakhstan. On the one hand, there was Nazarbayev, who announced his resignation, but did not want to leave power, and on the other, there was the legitimate President Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev with reduced powers.

“A clash between them was inevitable. Therefore, on January 5, riots began in Almaty, attacks on state facilities, murders, looting,” the political scientist noted, adding that contrary to the expectations of many, Tokayev showed decisiveness in this situation.

“First of all, he reduced gas prices (even below the previous level). His second step was to dismiss the government. And finally, the third step was to change the leadership of the National Security Committee. Nazarbayev's tribe Samat Abish, who held the post of first deputy head of the National Security Committee and supervised the work of the entire state apparatus, was dismissed. He then declared himself President of the Security Council. Prior to that, Nazarbayev was the life-long chairman of the Security Council. And yesterday Nazarbayev was forced to announce through a press secretary that he himself had decided to transfer the post of head of the country's Security Council to the current president Tokayev,” Alizade said.—0—