Nazarbayev described himself as a ‘retiree’, saying full energy was within the palms of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
Kazakhstan’s influential former chief launched a brief video on Tuesday wherein he talked in regards to the violent unrest that engulfed the ex-Soviet nation earlier this month and rejected studies alleging that he fled the nation amid tensions with the present president.
It was the primary time that Nursultan Nazarbayev, who ran Kazakhstan for 29 years after it gained independence and stored an influential put up after stepping down as president in 2019, spoke publicly in regards to the protests and the bloodshed they descended into.
Nazarbayev additionally denied that there have been tensions between him and his hand-picked successor, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. Some speculated {that a} rift between the 2 might have performed a task in exacerbating the unrest.
Protests in Kazakhstan, an oil and gas-rich nation of 19 million in Central Asia, started on January 2 in a small western city over the near-doubling of gas costs. However they shortly unfold throughout the huge nation, rising right into a basic protest in opposition to the authoritarian authorities and turning into violent riots that killed greater than 220 individuals.
Tokayev sought to calm the crowds by saying a 180-day cap on gas costs and eradicating Nazarbayev as head of the Nationwide Safety Council, an influential put up he occupied since stepping down.
The transfer was seen by some as an try to finish the previous chief’s patronage that had ignited tensions amongst Kazakhstan’s ruling elite, additional fuelling the unrest.
In his video tackle Tuesday, Nazarbayev, 81, rejected these allegations.
“There isn’t any battle or confrontation throughout the nation’s elite. The rumours on this regard are utterly groundless,” he stated.
He additionally disregarded studies that claimed he had fled the nation, and backed Tokayev’s transfer to take over as head of the Nationwide Safety Council.
“In 2019, I handed over the presidential authority to Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, and have ever since been a retiree, at present having fun with retirement within the capital of Kazakhstan, having by no means left wherever. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has the total energy, he’s the chairman of the Safety Council,” Nazarbayev stated.
Based on Kazastan’s officers, 227 individuals died within the violence, together with 19 cops and servicemen.
Greater than 4,300 individuals have been injured, and 1000’s have been detained by authorities.
To quell the unrest, Tokayev requested assist from the Russia-led army alliance, the Collective Safety Treaty Group (CSTO), which is made up of six former Soviet nations. The bloc despatched greater than 2,000 troops to Kazakhstan and withdrew them after a number of days.