Anti-corruption strongman the new premier of Kazakhstan

Olžas Bektenov, 43 years old and close to President Tokaev, has been appointed to take the place of the recently disolved government. Astana aims for 'renewal', drawing a line under period that began woth 'bloody January' of 2022 that had led to the appointment of Alikhan Smailov as premier. The unknown of the delicate relations with Moscow and Beijing.

Astana (AsiaNews) - After the sudden resignation of the entire Astana government by President Kasym-Žomart Tokaev, the ruling Amanat party has equally unexpectedly proposed the candidacy of Olžas Bektenov as prime minister. Initially, the outgoing prime minister Alikhan Smailov was replaced by his deputy, the Ukrainian Roman Skljar; but there wasn't even time to question the relationship between the acting president and the president, before the figure of the 43-year-old head of the presidential administration emerged, evidently one of the people closest to Tokaev himself.

As many commentators observe, Bektenov is known for his very decisive and uncompromising positions, and now a large turnover of the ministers themselves is expected. The promotions of several other protagonists of Kazakh politics had been hypothesized, such as the akim (mayor) of Almaty Erbolat Dosaev, the ex-energy minister Kanat Bozumbaev or the deputy prime minister Serik Žumangarin, but also the speaker of the Mažilis Erlan Košanov, Foreign Minister Murat Nurtleu, the akim of Astana Ženis Kasymbek or the governor of the Mangistau region, Nurlan Nogaev.

Olžas Bektenov is first and foremost a general of the anti-corruption service, and his appointment indicates a clear desire to do "big cleansing" at all levels of state administrations. As head of the presidential structure, he further distinguished himself as an excellent organizer, and his promotion was also driven by news in recent days of new investigations which also reach members of the government, such as the one concerning the deputy minister for ecology and Natural Resources Mansur Ošarbaev.

The president's move aims to give further acceleration to the much-vaunted construction of the "new Kazakhstan", which risked remaining mired in the struggles between the various castes of power and evildoing. Bektenov has already achieved many successes in the search and confiscation of the assets of high officials hidden abroad, and brought back to his homeland to a considerable extent, and we await the assignment of new powers to the tax and police bodies. The new government is expected to be decidedly more streamlined, reducing the number of deputy prime ministers (up to now there were six) and the ministries themselves.

However, some doubt the new prime minister's abilities in the economic and geopolitical fields, given the delicate relations with the member countries of organizations such as the EAES and the SCO, where Russia and China dominate, and where too rigid political lines cannot be imposed. Kazakhstan's modernization often clashes with the different conditions of ongoing conflicts and conflicting interests between world powers and the Central Asian countries themselves.

Bektenov's appointment also takes on a symbolic value, as the definitive closure of the Kandy Kantar period, the "Bloody January" 2022, which led to the appointment of Alikhan Smailov as prime minister. The now ex-premier was still a trusted man of the "eternal president" Nursultan Nazarbaev, who somehow still seemed to control the situation through him. Now the resigning prime minister thanks Tokaev for "having directed the government's work towards reforms, guaranteeing safe and stable social and economic development for the country".

The government's initial move to pacify Kazakh society in 2022 was the imposition of a fixed fuel price, maintained for 180 days, given that the Kantar riots were born from that factor. In these two years, however, many problems have remained unresolved, such as that of the unstable functioning of heating systems, which has left several regions freezing in recent months, or the negotiations with the Arcelor Mittal company, after the accidents that caused dozens of victims. A turning point is needed, and we will see how much "strongman" Bektenov will be able to ensure unity between the president, the government and the population.

• Kazakhstan
• Astana
• Tokaev
• Bektenov