Nur-Sultan, 11 January 2022 (TDI): The President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, offered the candidacy to support Alikhan Smailov’s to assume the Prime Minister’s office. The President nominated the new Prime Minister at the meeting of the Majilis, the lower house of Parliament.
During the meeting today, the majority of deputies supported the candidacy chosen by President Kassym-Jomart. Alikhan Smailov previously served as the First Deputy Prime Minister.
Alikhan Smailov was born in 1972 in Almaty. He graduated from the Al-Farabi Kazakh State National University in 1994 and the Kazakhstan Institute of Management, Economics and Forecasting under the President of Kazakhstan in 1996.
He worked as Deputy Chairman of the Committee for Statistics and Analysis of the Agency for Statistical Planning and Reforms, State Inspector of the Presidential Administration, as well as Head of the KazAgro National Holding.
He chaired the National Agency of Statistics. Smailov had been an Assistant to the President over the years. During his career, he was twice appointed as Vice-Minister of Finance.
Smailov became First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance in 2019. He was reappointed as First Deputy Prime Minister in 2019 and 2021.
This year, he served as the acting Prime Minister after the government resigned due to the fuel protests followed by the terrorist uprising.
Onground Situation in Kazakhstan
Earlier, due to the unrest in the country, President Kassym-Jomart announced a state of emergency across the whole country on 5th January.
The directive came in the wake of protests that originally commenced in the Mangystau region when the residents of the region demanded a reduction in the prices for liquefied gas.
The Government of Kazakhstan took measures to reduce the prices along with introducing a moratorium on price upsurge in response. Nevertheless, demonstrations in other major cities escalated into riots.
The situation spiraled as events like attacks on the administrative offices and military sites, the capture of the airport, and taking hostage of cargo airplanes and foreign passengers in the city of Almaty became widespread.
Kazakhstan is facing armed violence from terrorist groups that were trained outside of the country. President Tokayev requested the member states of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) to assist with counter-terrorist operations.
As per the state of emergency, a set of measures were adopted to maintain the rule of law and public safety. Kazakhstan is committed to adhering to international obligations in the realm of human rights and the continuation of the course of reforms implemented by President Tokayev.
