President Tokayev appoints Alikhan Smailov prime minister once again

Members of the parliament supported the candidacy of Alikhan Smailov to be prime minister of the country’s cabinet. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed a decree on his official appointment as prime minister.

Earlier this week Smailov was nominated to the office by the political party Amanat. Tokayev supported this decision.

«The Amanat party nominated its candidate and I support this decision. I suggest appointing Alikhan Smailov prime minister once again. As you all know, he is a hardworking and professional person. I think he knows very well what we expect from his cabinet,» the president said to the parliament.

The Auyl political party, which has also gained seats in the Mazhilis, supported the nomination of Smailov while representatives of the Nationwide Social Democratic Party opposed this decision. However, the vast majority of MPs supported the nomination in the end.

Earlier, 51-year-old Smailov said he would again lead the cabinet if necessary. He graduated from the Kazakh National University with a degree in mathematics. He also studied public administration at KIMEP University.

In previous years, he served as manager in an investment fund, led the statistics agency and worked in the administration of the former president Nursultan Nazarbayev.

Also, he was vice foreign minister and vice finance minister. Over the period from 2015 to 2018, he used to serve as an aide to Nazarbayev. In January 2022, after massive protests across the country, he replaced Askar Mamin as prime minister.