The New Kazakhstan of Tokaev

Political and constitutional reforms announced. The Kazakh president wants to eliminate the dangers coming from the centralisation of power. After the January riots, the country is trying to overcome the long period of the father of the country Nazarbayev. Fears of a merely "cosmetic" change.

Moscow (AsiaNews) - In a message to the nation, Kazakhstan's President Kasym-Žomart Tokaev presented his reform programme, which envisages a shift from "super-presidentialism" to a division of powers between president and parliament, a ban on the head of state taking part in party activities and a ban on his close family members holding important public positions. Among other things, the plan also provides for the registration of parties and the establishment of a Constitutional Court.

As the president explained, "some influential people" tried to usurp power in Kazakhstan during the January riots, recalling the events that led to the deaths of at least 238 people, according to the latest official figures. Tokaev did not name the "traitors", but said that the tragic events were the effect of a "stagnation" in the national political system, a phase that, moreover, led to the installation of the entire current leadership apparatus, starting with the president himself.

The package of reforms announced thus starts precisely by contrasting the centralism of power, to avoid the "excessive influence of the circle" that is created alongside the autocrat. The solemn announcement took place after the arrival of the presidential motorcade in Parliament, with the red carpet rolled out in front of him, and the entire parliamentary leadership waiting in front of the entrance in perfect clothes without jackets or coats, despite the temperature being well below zero.

The president was received by the heads of the Senate and the Mažilis (lower house), Maulen Ašimbaev and Erlan Košanov. His message was broadcast on all the networks, with a theatrical staging worthy of an 'epochal turning point' in the life of Kazakhstan. It is in some ways the real beginning of the Tokaev presidency, which in 2019 had been put in place of the "eternal president" Nursultan Nazarbaev only as a placeholder for the great leader.

Now Nazarbaev, whose residence remains rather uncertain, describes himself as "a simple pensioner", and in the two months that followed the Almaty riots, a capillary repulse of the entire ruling class linked to the elbasy, the "father of the fatherland" now definitively dethroned, has been carried out.

Many were waiting for a detailed report from Tokaev on the events of January, on the victims and the police violence, perhaps even the instigators of the riots. Tokaev limited himself to blaming the anonymous 'traitors' who wanted to take the presidential chair from him, using the protests organised by 'professional militiamen' as a justification. Among them, the president clarified, were some leaders of the special military and civilian services. The accused had allegedly "complicated the action of the security forces, spreading false information to the country's leadership about what was happening in the main cities, even taking under their control some channels of communication reserved for the government".

Many senior figures from the secret services, politics and business are currently in custody, and attempts are being made to repair the damage caused by the demonstrators to several administrative buildings in Almaty and other cities, which have been the victims of devastation and looting. Tokaev also acknowledged that during the arrests and detentions in January, the police "were guilty of the use of torture, which is absolutely unacceptable, and those involved will be held accountable to the law", although he did not mention possible investigations by international bodies.

In order to overcome the trauma of the January clashes, and emerge from the current panic of warlike aggression (to which Tokaev did not explicitly refer, however), a profound "political transformation" of Kazakhstan is now necessary.

• kazakhstan
• tokaev
• nazarbaev
• uprising
• crisis
• reforms
• corruption
• dictatorship