The change of Prime Minister, which occurred today in Kazakhstan, is in essence not the resignation of Karim Masimov, who headed the National Security Committee – it is a displacement to the equal-leading position that was performed in the framework of the standard personnel policy of President Nursultan Nazarbayev. The director of the Institute of the EAEC, member of the Zinoviev Club of the MIA ‘Russia Today’, Vladimir Lepekhin, spoke about this to a correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza.
According to the expert, given the fact that the forces seeking to destabilize the political situation in the country are now becoming active, the position of the chairman of the NSC is becoming very important. "The situation in the country is characterized by the fact that, on the one hand the clan clashes are growing, while on the other hand the political system is not flexible enough. President Nazarbayev has been making tremendous efforts for the development of this political system for a decade and a half, but nevertheless, due to external pressure and internal post-Soviet traditions it is not yet possible to create an effective political system and to ensure continuity,’’ he explained.
According to Lepekhin, the only way to ensure political stability in such a situation is a clever personnel policy, which implies the strengthening of politicians possessing certain characteristics. "In particular, this politician should not be a rigid representative of one of the clans, but should think of the national interest. On the other hand, he should not be openly pro-Western. Thirdly, he must be an innovator in a certain sense, that means he should not be a representative of the old Soviet nomenklatura. There are very few such people, but Nazarbayev is making efforts to create such politicians, to promote them, he makes sure they show themselves, and so on," the director of the Institute of the EAEC said.
"Masimov is one such politician who meets all three of these requirements, which is why he was appointed to the key post. His successor as the Prime Minister, Bakhytzhan Sagintayev, is absolutely Nazarbayev’s and Masimov’s official. It is precisely the first deputy prime-minister who should head the government today,’’ the expert said.
Vladimir Lepekhin suggested that the government can also undergo the changes now. "Nazarbayev is a person who is constantly experimenting. So far, he is mainly experimenting with the Parliament, which is why there were all sorts of extraordinary and early elections, as well as the change of the configuration and composition of the Parliament and its structure. Now, perhaps, there is such a situation when it is time to experiment with the government. It would not be surprising if Nazarbayev takes some steps to shake up the government. This would be quite natural in this situation,’’ he said.
