Nursultan Nazarbayev may have resigned as president of Kazakhstan but analysts say the longest-serving post-Soviet leader will hardly be easing into retirement.

By retaining key posts — as head of the security council and chair of the ruling party — the 78-year-old Central Asian strongman will be in a position to keep ruling the nation behind the scenes.

“Nazarbayev is not going anywhere, he will be in charge of the country for as long as his health allows,” said Central Asia analyst Andrei Grozin.

Sergey Duvanov, an independent analyst based in Kazakhstan’s largest city Almaty, said Nazarbayev will continue to rule the country “just with a different title”.

“He will continue to have all the power, but that hectic presidential schedule — government meetings, diplomatic visits, ceremonial occasions — will belong to someone else now.”

Eduard Poletaev, director of the Kazakhstan-based World of Eurasia think tank, was even more blunt.

Poletaev said the balance of power in Kazakhstan may not change much in the coming years, comparing Nazarbayev to Deng Xiaoping who was China’s ultimate decision-maker until his death in 1997.

The Kazakh ruler has expressed admiration for Singapore’s founding father Lee Kuan Yew, a personal friend who retained influence over decision-making in the country even after he quit as prime minister.

While analysts had long pointed to the possibility of a phased transition of power in the country of 18 million, the decision “has come as a shock to many in Kazakhstan,” said Joanna Lillis, author of “Dark Shadows: Inside the Secret World of Kazakhstan”.

“Clearly Nazarbayev had decided to oversee the political transition and establish his legacy once and for all in his lifetime,” she said in written comments.

Some observers suggested the announcement might have been prompted by a crisis in Algeria where protesters have taken to the streets to call for an end to the long rule of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

“He has taken this decision against the background of what’s happening in Algeria, but he retained key duties,” said Poletaev.

Still, analysts said they were impressed at the veteran leader deciding to step aside voluntarily, unlike some of his Central Asian counterparts who left office feet first.

“You have to hand it to him — this is a breathtaking move. He established a tradition of power transfer,” said Andrei Suzdaltsev, a professor at Moscow’s Higher School of Economics.

“And for Central Asia, this is something incredible.”

Leadership transitions in authoritarian Central Asia are the subject of regular speculation due to the region’s deep authoritarian tradition and abundance of oil and gas wealth.

Nazarbayev’s counterpart in Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov, died after 27 years in power in 2016 and was replaced by his prime minister, Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

Turkmenistan’s long-ruling first president Saparmurat Niyazov — who died in 2006 — fashioned one of the world’s great personality cults.

His former health minister and one-time dentist Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov picked up where Niyazov left off, overseeing a system that has no space for independent media or political opposition and sometimes draws comparisons with North Korea.

Many drew parallels between Nazarbayev’s address and the stunning resignation of Russia’s Boris Yeltsin on New Year’s Eve 1999, when he appointed Vladimir Putin as acting chief.

“Take care of an independent Kazakhstan,” said Nazarbayev, echoing Yeltsin’s call to “take care of Russia” in his legendary televised address.

The Kremlin said that Nazarbayev and Putin had on Tuesday spoken by phone and many analysts said that the resignation had been likely discussed with Moscow.

Some suggested that Putin may borrow from the Kazakh leader’s playbook when the Kremlin chief’s fourth term runs out in 2024.

“One wonders whether this is a model for a certain neighbour to the north,” Sam Greene, director of the Russia Institute at King’s College London, said on Twitter.</s>Nursultan Nazarbayev, who has ruled the oil-rich ex-Soviet nation of Kazakhstan for nearly three decades, has announced his resignation.

Nazarbayev said in a televised address to the nation Tuesday that he has taken the "difficult" decision to terminate his authority as president, effective on Wednesday. He did not give a specific reason.

The 78-year-old has led Kazakhstan since 1989 when it was still part of the Soviet Union. He came to power as the Central Asian nation's Communist Party chief and was then elected president.

He took nearly 98 percent of the vote in the most recent election, in 2015, when elected for another five-year term.

According to Kazakhstan's constitution, the upper house speaker acts as head of state until a new president is elected.</s>ASTANA: Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev announced his shock resignation on Tuesday, 29 years after taking office. "I have taken the decision to refuse the mandate of the presidency," he said in a speech broadcast on state television. Nazarbayev came to power in oil-rich Kazakhstan when it was still a Soviet republic and has never indicated a successor.

The move comes on the back of growing social discontent and an economy still recovering from an oil price plunge in 2014. The announcement also comes just weeks after the ageing strongman dismissed the country's government.

Nazarbayev will enjoy significant policy-making powers following his resignation thanks to his constitutional status as "Leader of the Nation". He also became lifelong head of the country's security council last year.</s>MOSCOW (AP) — Nursultan Nazarbayev, who has ruled the oil-rich ex-Soviet nation of Kazakhstan for nearly three decades, has announced his resignation.

Nazarbayev said in a televised address to the nation Tuesday that he has taken the "difficult" decision to terminate his authority as president, effective on Wednesday. He did not give a specific reason.

The 78-year-old has led Kazakhstan since 1989 when it was still part of the Soviet Union. He came to power as the Central Asian nation's Communist Party chief and was then elected president.

He took nearly 98 percent of the vote in the most recent election, in 2015, when elected for another five-year term.

According to Kazakhstan's constitution, the upper house speaker acts as head of state until a new president is elected.</s>Nazarbayev Resigns As Kazakhstan's President; Was First Elected In 1991

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev says he will resign the post he has held for nearly 30 years, abruptly announcing the end of an era that began in 1990. But Nazarbayev, 78, also said he'll keep several key official posts, in a speech that aired on national TV Tuesday.

In the former Soviet bloc, formerly comprised of 15 countries, Nazarbayev is the only long-standing leader to sustain power for three decades. The president of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov died in 2016 after his presidential reign of 26 years.

Despite resigning the presidency, Nazarbayev will maintain control of the ruling Nur Otan Party. He'll also remain a member of powerful government councils.

"In accordance with our laws, I'm given a status of the first president - the nation's leader (El basy in Kazakh), I will remain the Security Council's chairman, who has serious powers to determine the country's domestic and foreign policy in line with the laws," Nazarbayev said, in a translation by Russia's Tass news agency.

"In July 2018, the Security Council's status was changed from consultative to constitutional, increasing its authority, and Nazarbayev became its chairman for life," Radio Free Europe reports.

In late January, Nazarbayev asked Kazakhstan's Constitutional Council to clarify Section 3 of Article 42 of the Constitution, laying out a path for his early resignation.

On Feb. 21, Nazarbayev dismissed the entire Cabinet and reassembled it, amid a rising criticism of state officials that have been proven unable "to listen to listen to people's problems," according to Eurasianet. "No systematic work was done. The real incomes of the population have not increased. Spending on food as a share of the family budget is growing," Nazarbayev said at the time.

Nazarbayev has been a dominant force in oil-rich Kazakhstan. He's also often been accused of abusing human rights and of using autocratic methods to maintain control, amass power and influence elections.

And then there's the cult of personality Nazarbayev has developed in the former Soviet Central Asian republic. Kazakhstan celebrates holidays on both the president's birthday and on the anniversary of his first election, for instance. And in 2006, Nazarbayev changed the lyrics to his country's national anthem.

In 2017, one of the main streets in the former capital of Kazakhstan, the city of Almaty, has been renamed after him.

Nazarbayev is the only president Kazakhstan has ever known. He first rose to authority in the 1980s as a Communist Party official under the Soviet regime, which appointed him president shortly before the U.S.S.R.'s collapse. In 1991, his presidency was affirmed by an election in which he took nearly 100 percent of the vote.

Since taking power, Nazarbayev has steadily won five new terms, with lopsided results: In each of his last two elections, the perennial incumbent won at least 95 percent of the vote. During his tenure, Kazakhstan has gradually shifted the terms in office for the presidency. The terms were once for seven years; that changed in 2007, when the term was shortened to five years.

Nazarbayev won his last election in 2015 — a vote that was shifted one year early, in a move that has been a hallmark of the presidency's decades in office.</s>President Nazarbayev came to power in 1989 and had become increasingly close to the West and China Mukhtar Kholdorbekov/Reuters

The president of Kazakhstan, who once asked scientists to produce an elixir of life to help him prolong his rule, has stepped down after almost three decades in power.

Nursultan Nazarbayev, 78, was one of the last autocrats who ran the former Soviet states of Central Asia for decades.

He announced his resignation unexpectedly today during a televised address to the nation. “I have made the decision to terminate my powers as Kazakh president,” Mr Nazarbayev said. “This year is the thirtieth since I took the highest post. People gave me an opportunity to be the first president of an independent Kazakhstan. We put Kazakhstan on the map where there was never such a country.”

Mr Nazarbayev, who led Kazakhstan to independence in 1991, is…</s>Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev has abruptly resigned after nearly 30 years in office, but will continue to head the ruling party and keep his lifetime post as chairman of the influential Security Council.

"I have decided to end my duties as president," Nazarbaev said in a televised address to the nation on March 19, speaking hours after his office said that he would make an important announcement.

"This year I will have held the highest post for 30 years," said Nazarbaev, 78, who has headed the energy-rich country since before the Soviet collapse of 1991. "The people gave me the opportunity to be the first president of an independent Kazakhstan."

He said that that the speaker of the upper parliament chamber, Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev, will hold presidential authority for now. The next presidential election is due to be held in 2020.

Nazarbaev said that he will remain at the helm of the ruling Nur Otan party and will stay on as chairman of the presidential Security Council, roles that could allow him to retain a great deal of power.

In July 2018, the Security Council's status was changed from consultative to constitutional, increasing its authority, and Nazarbaev became its chairman for life.

Many in Kazakhstan saw those changes as a sign that Nazarbaev was seeking to ensure that he would maintain his grip on power if he stepped down as president.

Rights activists and critics say Nazarbaev has persistently suppressed dissent, prolonged his time in office through undemocratic votes or referendums, and used the levers of power to neutralize potential opponents.

Nazarbaev was last elected in 2015, securing a five-year term after moving the date of the vote up from 2016 in a move was widely seen as an attempt to strengthen his grip on power.

With the death of autocratic Uzbek President Islam Karimov in 2016, Nazarbaev became the only leader of a former Soviet republic to have held power since before the U.S.S.R. fell apart in 1991.

While his announcement was unexpected, there had been several signs that he might be considering stepping down as president.

In early February, Nazarbaev set off speculation about his intentions by asking Kazakhstan's Constitutional Council to provide an official interpretation of an article from the country's constitution that deals with the termination of presidential duties.

His resignation followed unusually persistent protests in which demonstrators in several cities across the country of some 18.7 million have accused the government of ignoring the needs and demands of ordinary people.

The protests were spurred in part by anger and grief over the deaths of five children from a single family in a house fire in Astana, the capital, on February 4.

The predawn fire destroyed a tiny family home in Astana while both parents were away working overnight shifts, killing five girls aged 3 months to 13 years.</s>Nursultan Nazarbayev, the President of Kazakhstan of 30 years and the last Soviet-era leader in power in a former Soviet republic, unexpectedly resigned on Tuesday, but is widely expected to retain power over the country’s politics and policies.

Nazarbayev, viewed as an autocrat as many of the other rulers of Central Asian nations, noted in his resignation speech that during his three-decade tenure since 1989 Kazakhstan managed to attract foreign investment in its commodities industries and set up a sovereign wealth fund thanks to oil and gas revenues.

Kazakhstan has tripled its oil production over the past 30 years and is currently taking part in the OPEC/non-OPEC deal to reduce output. Kazakhstan’s production cap under the agreement is 1.86 million bpd, down by 40,000 bpd from its November production level.

“I have made a difficult decision for myself - to resign from the powers of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan,” Nazarbayev said in an address on Tuesday, but noted that he would remain the Chairman of the Security Council, “which is vested with serious powers.”

“That is to say, I am staying with you,” said Nazarbayev in what analysts see as a prepared political transition that would still give the now former president considerable power over Kazakhstan.

Nazarbayev, who was the only president of independent Kazakhstan until yesterday, handed over the presidential power to the Chairman of the Senate, Kassym-Jomart Kemelovich Tokayev, until the end of the presidential term in office, April 2020. Kazakhstan is slated to hold presidential and general elections next year.

In order to comply with the OPEC+ deal, Kazakhstan will shut down most of the production at its giant Kashagan field—one of the world’s largest offshore oil fields—by nearly 200,000 bpd in April and May, before ramping up again in June, Energy Minister Kanat Bozumbayev said just a few days ago.
• None Has The U.S. Lost The Nordstream 2 Battle?</s>Nursultan Nazarbayev, the last remaining Soviet-era leader and revered patriarch of Central Asia, resigned on Tuesday his post as president of Kazakhstan after nearly 30 years at the helm, although his exit from the political limelight will unlikely lead to major changes in domestic or foreign policy.

In a surprise message to the nation, the 78-year-old Kazakh leader announced his resignation as head of state as of Wednesday, but said he would remain at the head of the pro-government Nur Otan party and the country's influential Security Council to guarantee the smoothest of transitions.</s>As ruler of Kazakhstan for almost 30 years, he is responsible for turning the Central Asian country into an energy powerhouse while governing with little tolerance for opposition

ASTANA, Kazakhstan – Nursultan Nazarbayev ruled Kazakhstan for almost 30 years and turned the Central Asian country into an energy powerhouse while governing with little tolerance for opposition.

A close ally of Russia's Vladimir Putin, the 78-year-old also counts former British prime minister Tony Blair among his admirers.

Coming to power in 1989, peasant-born Nazarbayev was the last leader of an ex-Soviet Republic whose rule began during the USSR.

Kazakhstan's gleaming futuristic new capital Astana, built in the years since independence, symbolizes Nazarbayev's drive to put the country on the map.

But in recent years, the oil-rich country has seen growing social discontent, with an economy still recovering from an oil price plunge in 2014.

This year, Nazarbayev sacked his government for what he said was a failure to fix the economy.

The son of a shepherd, Nazarbayev trained as an engineer before rising through the ranks of the Kazakh Communist Party to head it and the country in 1989.

He was elected to the new role of president on the eve of the Soviet breakup in 1991.

Since then, his power has become absolute, with resounding, but internationally-criticized election victories in 1999, 2005, 2011 and 2015.

In the most recent poll in the largely Muslim country, which still has a significant ethnic Russian minority, he won more than 97 percent of the vote.

His term was due to end in 2020.

But rights activists say that Nazarbayev's support was the result of propaganda, reinforced by crackdowns on the press and the internet.

The longtime leader projected himself as a guarantor of stability at home.

He strived for a similar image abroad, remaining a close partner to Russia while engaging with the West and accommodating the growing economic interests of China in the region.

Nazarbayev offered his country as a site for talks over the Ukraine crisis and hosted international talks aimed to bring peace in Syria.

Putin has called Nazarbayev "the most prudent" leader in the post-Soviet space, while Blair, who has acted as a paid advisor to the country's government, credited Nazarbayev with "subtlety and ingenuity" in a promotional video that aired in 2012.

The economic success story of Kazakhstan in the early 2000s and Nazarbayev has not been without other murky subplots.

In 2015, the president's former son-in-law Rakhat Aliyev apparently committed suicide in an Austrian jail.

Aliyev was married to Nazarbayev's eldest daughter Dariga until 2007, but he publicly fell out with the Kazakh supremo that year and went on to author a tell-all book on the ruling family.

He was found dead in his cell while awaiting trial in Austria for the murder of two Kazakh bankers.

He had been convicted in absentia on multiple counts in Kazakhstan, including plotting to overthrow the government.

Nazarbayev, who bears the honorary title "Elbasi," or "father of the nation", is ubiquitous on state television and billboards across the country.

He has embraced grandiose projects, transforming Astana from a sleepy provincial town into a glitzy metropolis with buildings designed by internationally-renowned architects.

Ahead of the 2015 election, Nazarbayev hinted that he had considered stepping down.

"I have received thousands of letters asking me to put forward my candidacy," he mused, before adding: "Perhaps it is time for a scene-change?"

He later announced he had decided to stand again to tackle the economic challenges.

Nazarbayev married his wife Sara in the early 1960s.

Of their 3 daughters, Dariga, 55, is an MP and is considered the most politically influential.

The husband of his middle daughter Dinara, oil baron Timur Kulibayev, had previously been mentioned as a potential successor. – Rappler.com
The President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, announces his resignation after 29 years in office.