Kazakhstan political experts on new Prime-Minister's course

Political expert Dossym Satpayev believes that appointment of Serik Akhmetov new Prime-Minister will not result in any key changes, Tengrinews.kz reports. According to Satpayev, the position of the head of the Government (PM) has been the role of a technical implementer in the last 10 years. PM has been an economic manager who implemented the economic programs developed with direct involvement of the President, the expert says. “But not more than that,” he said. “The new Prime-Minister will continue work with the programs developed by Massimov’s government. First of all, this is the Accelerated Industrial-Innovative Development program. New ministers will also work on the programs adopted by their predecessors. Thus, I think that nothing will change from the economic development point of view,” Satpayev said. He also commented appointment of Karim Massimov head of the Presidential Administration. Karim Massimov did not lose any of his standing or powers from the state hierarchy point of view, he has said. “He moved from economic management into the political one. Massimov can now deal with internal policy. The authority is the same. Head of the Presidential Administration has more access to the President,” Satpayev added. Speaking of the new Prime-Minister, Satpayev tagged Akhmetov “a workhorse”. “He worked as First Vice-PM, so basically he will have to perform the same work as he did before. He knows it very well and he’s not new to it,” the political expert said. According to Marat Shibutov, new Prime-Minister does not have the powers equal to the ones of Karim Massimov. Nevertheless, Akhmetov is a good manager, the expert thinks. According to him, Akhmetov is well aware of local, i.e. the problems of Kazakhstan's regions. “His political weight is, of course, not as big as Massimov's one, but he has been well trained during his work as first Vice-PM. I think that the switch from one Prime-Minister to another one will not cause any problems,” Shibutov said. Shibutov also thinks that several ministers will be changed in relation to today's reshuffles. Earlier Tengrinews.kz English reported that Nursultan Nazarbayev appointed Karim Massimov head of Presidential Administration and Serik Akhmetov the new Kazakhstan’s Prime-Minister . By Roza Yessenkulova