Kazakhstan appoints new PM as protests turn violent

RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS - In Brief 05 Jan 2022 by Alex Teddy
On January 5 Alikhan Smailov became Prime Minister. He is 49 years old, a native Kazakh and he was born in Almaty. Smailov served as Finance Minister before being First Deputy Prime Minister. He is a member of the ruling party: Nur Otan (Light of the Fatherland). Smailov is seen as a safe pair of hands. Despite being a politician he is a very private person.The situation has not calmed down despite the cabinet resigning and promises of economic grievances being addressed. There are still thousands of protesters in several cities. However, Nur Sultan City is free protests partly because it is prosperous but also because it the most strictly policed.In Almaty the president's residence and city hall have been set on fire. Tokayev said that 8 police officers have been killed and hundreds injured. Some have doubted this claim. How is this possible in a country with an extremely high per capita number of police when the police are armed and almost no one else is allowed a gun. It could be that the government wishes to justify a very harsh response. Perhaps the authorities wanted this to happen so it can change the subject from cost of living to violence. Peaceful protesters now seem bad because of the crimes of a few.Kazakhstan is a military ally of Russia. Tokayev has formally appealed to Moscow for assistance. Russia likes to see itself as the guarnator of security in the region.Tokayev now looks feeble. The KZT has fallen sharply.

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