Nursultan Nazarbayev

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'Nursultan Nazarbayev</big></big> Нұрсұлтан Назарбаев'
Image:Nursultan Nazarbayev 1997.jpg <small/>
1st President of the Republic of Kazakhstan
Incumbent
Assumed office 1990
Succeeded by	Incumbent

Born	July 6, 1940 Chemolgan, Soviet Union, present-day Kazakhstan
Political party	Otan
Spouse	Sara Alpysovna

Nursultan Abishuly Nazarbayev (Kazakh: Нұрсұлтан Әбішұлы Назарбаев [Nûrsûltan Äbîshûlâ Nazarbayev]; Russian: Нурсултан Абишёвич Назарбаев [Nursultan Abishevich Nazarbayev]) (born July 6, 1940 in Chemolgan, Kazakhstan) is the current President of Kazakhstan, and the country's only leader since independence from the Soviet Union. He has been in office since 1990; prior to the collapse of the Soviet Union, he was the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Kazakh SSR from 1984 to 1989 and the first secretary of the Kazakh Communist Party from 1989 to 1991. Although he had professed to being an atheist, during his presidential term he has tried to magnify his "Muslim heritage" while trying to combat Islamic extremism. [1]

Nazarbayev was elected president of an independent Kazakhstan in late 1991, and an April 1995 referendum extended his term until 2000. He was re-elected in January 1999 and again in December 2005. His latest election has been condemned by the OSCE as falling short of international democratic standards.

[edit] Policies

Image:G.W. Bush with Nazarbayev.jpg

His government's policies are considered moderate and maintain a balance between the United States and Russia. He has opened Kazakhstan's lucrative Tengiz and Kashagan oil fields to American oil firms. Domestically, he has adopted a policy similar to China's in that he is pursuing capitalist economic development without political liberalization, sometimes resulting in draconian policies and harsh clampdowns on dissent, including the disqualifications of electoral opponents and the muzzling of the press, which incidentally is controlled by his daughter, Dariga Nursultanovna Nazarbayeva. Nevertheless, he is respected by some in the West for his relatively even-handed development of the country and his maintaining stability and growth in a volatile, energy rich region.

His supporters credit him with improving the lot of the common Kazakh citizen in the face of allegations that he stashed well over a billion US dollars in Swiss bank accounts and allegations of rampant corruption involving himself and many members of his government, including former Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Nurlan Balgimbayev. He initiated the move of the administration from Almaty to Astana.

He is married to Sara Alpysovna Nazarbayeva, with whom he has had three daughters named Dariga, Dinara and Aliya. Dariga is married to Rakhat Aliyev (the son of the former minister of healthcare of Kazakhstan), who currently serves as the first deputy minister of foreign affairs of Kazakhstan. Dinara is married to Timur Kulibayev (the son of the former minister of construction of Kazakhstan), who now holds the position of the first deputy chairman of the national holding company Samruk which manages the most important state-owned companies (and formerly, the first vice-president of the national oil company KazMunaiGas). Aliya is a prominent businesswoman. She was married to Aidar Akaev, the son of the former president of Kyrgyzstan, Askar Akaev, with whom she divorced.

On 4 December 2005, new Presidential elections were held, and President Nazarbayev won by an overwhelming majority of 91.15% (from a total of 6,871,571 eligible participating voters) as reported by the Central Electoral Commission of Kazakhstan. This outcome would be subject to criticism by the OSCE. Nazarbayev was sworn in for another seven-year term on 11 January 2006.

Nazarbayev has been largely criticised for his authoritarian style of leadership. Beginning with the formation of the DCK (Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan) in November 2001 by Galymzhan Zhakiyanov, Mukhtar Ablyazov, and, and later of For Just Kazakhstan Political Movement in 2005 lead by Zharmakhan Tuyakbay, a split in the future of the political ideology in Kazakhstan materialized. The murder of two prominent opposition leaders, Zamanbek Nurkadylov in November 2005 and Altynbek Sarsenbayev in February 2006, have fueled the controversy.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Current members of the Cabinet of President Nursultan Nazarbayev <td style="vertical-align: middle; width: 1px" rowspan="2"> Image:Flag of Kazakhstan.svg </td>
Abdykarimov • D. Akhmetov • S. Akhmetov • Altynbayev • Aytimova • Baliyeva • Dernovoi • Dosmukhanbetov • Dzhaksybekov • Iskakov • Izmukhambetov • Karagusova • Korzhova • Kulmakhanov • Masimov • Mukhamedzhanov • Musin • Shabdarbayev • Shkolnik • Tokayev • Tusupbekov • Yertysbayev • Yesimov • Zhumabekov