Electoral procedures in autocracies are a special process. Here, what matters is not so much the official results themselves, but whether the system can first organize them without unnecessary noise and then sell them both inside the country and beyond its borders. And it seems that the current administration of Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has managed this quite well. A report by «Most» from Astana.

#elections #Kazakhstan #parliament #policy #reportage #CentralAsia

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The daughter of Uzbekistan’s first president, Islam Karimov, is once again in the spotlight of the world’s media. She has been summoned to a Swiss court in a corruption case. Bringing this case to a close would make it possible to return about a billion dollars to the country’s state budget. But in Tashkent they refused even to temporarily release Karimova from prison. The reason may not be only about money: many representatives of today’s Uzbek elite began their careers back under Islam Karimov and were, in one way or another, connected to his daughter. Her testimony is more dangerous for them than the loss of a billion.

#Analytics #power #GulnaraKarimova #notKarimov #corruption #aftertheUSSR #successors #SaidaMirziyoyeva #uzbekistan #CentralAsia #ShavkatMirziyoyev

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Tajikistan is the only post-Soviet country where power has not changed hands since the early 1990s. The president long ago chose his eldest son, Rustam Emomali, as his successor, but the transfer of authority is constantly postponed.

#Analytics #universaloutput #aftertheUSSR #securityforces #Tajikistan #transitofpower #CentralAsia #EmomaliRahmon

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After the resignation of the head of the State Committee for National Security of Kyrgyzstan, Kamchybek Tashiev, President Sadyr Japarov has begun a sweeping purge of officials. The apparent goal is to bring the entire system of state governance under his control and become the sole center of power. Achieving this won’t be easy: over the past five years, Tashiev concentrated a significant share of managerial and economic decisions in his own hands, and it’s far from clear that Japarov will be able to fill this vacuum—or hold on to power.

#Analytics #power #corruption #sell #Saharabypass #aftertheUSSR #securityforces #specialservices #CentralAsia

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A «mask show» took place at the editorial office of Kazakhstan's largest independent media outlet, Orda.kz—just like in Russia in the 2000s. Let's figure out what happened: was it a private case of a «business conflict,» or a systematic attack on freedom of speech?

#business #power #GulnatBashkenova #Kazakhstan #acrisis #MaksatGaniev #media #aftertheUSSR #CentralAsia #electoralcycles

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Moscow's persistent attempts to demonstrate the unshakable nature of its partnership with Astana are the best evidence that, in reality, many things are changing there.

#Analytics #WarinUkraine #Kazakhstan #aftertheUSSR #Putin #Russia #Tokayev #Trump #CentralAsia

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