Kazakhstan's vainglorious capital, which Nursultan Nazarbayev founded, has been renamed “Nursultan” in his honour
has been in power for 30 years, it is reasonable to assume he will leave office only in a coup or a coffin. But Nursultan Nazarbayev, the 78-year-old who has run Kazakhstan since 1989, is trying to find a third way. On March 19th he took to the airwaves to announce his retirement as president of the oil-rich Central Asian country. The announcement marks the end of an era, not just for Kazakhstan but for the region: Mr Nazarbayev was its last Soviet-era leader left in power.
A showman to the last, Mr Nazarbayev signed his resignation decree on live television. On March 20th Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev, the 65-year-old chairman of the Senate, was sworn in for the rest of Mr Nazarbayev’s term, as the constitution stipulates. Mr Tokayev immediately ordered Astana, the vainglorious capital Mr Nazarbayev founded, rechristened “Nursultan” in his honour. Shymkent, Kazakhstan’s third-largest city, rushed to rename its main street “Nazarbayev”.
By securing Kazakhstan’s independence, Mr Nazarbayev literally put it on the map, as he pointed out in his resignation speech. He has kept it there by maintaining cordial ties with his giant neighbours, Russia and China, as well as with America. Mr Nazarbayev also expressed pride at the relative harmony among the more-than-100 ethnic groups in Kazakhstan.
Elections are due to be held at the end of next year, although an early vote is not ruled out. Mr Nazarbayev did not name a preferred candidate, but it seems inconceivable that he does not have one in mind. That could be Mr Tokayev or another, younger lieutenant, such as Askar Mamin, 53, who was promoted to prime minister in a recent cabinet reshuffle. If he intends his daughter to become president, he has been careful not to signal it openly.
The new president will certainly not emerge from the ranks of the opposition, since Mr Nazarbayev has hounded it out of existence. His preferred successor will almost certainly saunter into office after a rubberstamp election—although perhaps not with the 98% of the vote that Mr Nazarbayev is supposed to have won last time. Presumably, Mr Nazarbayev does not intend a big political opening, or he would have started one while still in office himself.
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