Kazakhistan president Nursultan Nazarbayev has appointed his own daughter as deputy prime minister, sparking speculation that she could succeed him as ruler of the mineral-rich Central Asian state.
The 75-year-old Mr Nazarbayev has ruled over Kazakhstan since independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 but he has begun to hint that he is considering standing down after the end of his current term as president in 2020.
Mr Nazarbayev, who tolerates little dissent, was re-elected in April with 98 percent of the vote in a presidential election.
Former British prime minister Tony Blair has been advising Mr Nazarbayev since 2011.
Dariga Nazarbayeva, 52, not only carries his surname, but also projects something of his force of personality.
Dariga Nazarbayev has been appointed by her father to be deputy prime minister of Kazakhstan Photo:
Getty Images
She returned to parliament in 2012, is currently its deputy Speaker and is an accomplished opera singer who has performed at Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre.
Kazakhstan’s politics are complicated by its clan-based society, with different power groups vying for influence.
Over the past 24 years Mr Nazarbayev has been able to rise above the clan structure. The worry is that without Mr Nazarbayev, a charismatic, single-minded force at the helm, infighting will envelop Kazakhstan.
Ms Nazarbayeva cuts a controversial figure.
In 2007, she and her then husband, Rakhet Aliyev, fell out with her father. Ms Nazarbayeva was
forced to quit parliament and relinquish her media interests. Aliyev fled into exile. Last year he was arrested in Austria for the murder of two Kazakh bankers. He died in February in a prison cell in in Vienna.
She returned to parliament in 2012, is currently its deputy Speaker and is an accomplished opera singer who has performed at Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre.
Kazakhstan’s politics are complicated by its clan-based society, with different power groups vying for influence.
Over the past 24 years Mr Nazarbayev has been able to rise above the clan structure. The worry is that without Mr Nazarbayev, a charismatic, single-minded force at the helm, infighting will envelop Kazakhstan.
Ms Nazarbayeva cuts a controversial figure.
In 2007, she and her then husband, Rakhet Aliyev, fell out with her father. Ms Nazarbayeva was
forced to quit parliament and relinquish her media interests. Aliyev fled into exile. Last year he was arrested in Austria for the murder of two Kazakh bankers. He died in February in a prison cell in in Vienna.
The Telegraph
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