KZBlog

Tag archive for ‘President’

• Image

  I am constantly amused by the way Kazakhstan government officials choose to portray themselves when a scandal breaks. For example, when rumors started spreading that President Nazarbayev was having surgery in Germany recently, government officials answered by saying he was on vacation and no one knew where he was. The government was, quite understandably, trying […]

  7/28/11 • (1)

• Sub Rosa Endorsement

  The article everyone is talking about today is Yermukhamet Yertysbayev’s interview with Russian newspaper, Kommersant in which he stated that Timur Kulibayev will replace President Nazarbayev if something should happen. The interview covers a lot of recent controversies, and was pretty clearly designed to allay concerns about some of the machinations in Astana, such as […]

  7/26/11 • (1)

• German Tabloid Reports Nazarbayev in Hospital

  Eurasianet.org is reporting that President Nazarbayev is in the hospital in Hamburg, according to the German tabloid Bild. Nazarbayev is officially on vacation and the Kazakhstan Embassy in Germany says they have no idea if he is there or not. It seems to me that there are a lot of unscary possibilities here: 1) Some […]

  7/19/11 • (2)

• 100% Kazakh-Speaking Generation

  Nursultan Nazarbayev, speaking Monday at the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan, expressed the hope that the new generation of schoolchildren will be 100% Kazakh speaking: We would like 100% of those who will start learning Kazakh language in the first class to be able to speak Kazakh. I am sure this will happen,” Nazarbayev […]

  4/18/11 • (1)

• 

  The Sky of My Childhood

  A new film about the childhood of the president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, premiered in Astana recently. The Sky of My Childhood. According to a review by Eurasianet, the film does portray little Sultan (as Nazarbayev is called by friends and families) as a happy child with a strong and caring family, doing genuine Kazkh things like […]

  4/14/11 • (4)

• Inauguration and Meeting

  The inauguration of Nazarbayev is tomorrow (or rather, today, since it’s past midnight), and there’s a government meeting scheduled for 11:30am after the ceremony. Presumably the Prime Minister, Ministers and Vice Ministers will officially hand in their resignations, Whether it will be announced immediately today who will be reappointed or not is not clear.

  4/08/11 • (Comments Off on Inauguration and Meeting)

• Voter Turnout by Region

  The Central Election Committee already has voter turnout by region up on their site. No big surprises. Total turnout is reported as 89.9%. The lowest turnout was in Almaty at 68.5% but surprisingly Astana, the capital, had the next lowest, with 69.1%. Every oblast except Pavlodar reported over 90%. And reports are already out that […]

  4/04/11 • (4)

• Rock the Sailau!

  In what I guess is supposed to be something like MTV’s Rock the Vote (Sailau means election in Kazakh; I don’t know the word for vote), some pop stars have come out with a video encouraging people to vote in the upcoming Presidential election. International media is portraying them as some of the “hottest pop […]

  3/13/11 • (Comments Off on Rock the Sailau!)

• Elections on 3 April

  The President has issued a decree setting elections for 3 April 2010, 2 months from now. Elections would have been held in December of 2012, but in a speech on 31 Jan rejecting the referendum, Nursultan Nazarbayev proposed early elections in what is being called a “compromise” between those who feel the referendum to extned […]

  2/04/11 • (1)

• President Says No

  The President went on live TV shortly after 5pm today to say that he would not appeal the decision of the Constitutional Council. He spoke from Akorda in front of the Prime Minister, the Cabinet Ministers and other government officials.

  1/31/11 • (Comments Off on President Says No)

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