The influential son-in-law of Kazakhstan’s ex-president resigned as head of the leading business lobby Monday after public anger at perceived corruption in the Central Asian country precipitated a power struggle and a deadly crisis.
Following days of internet shutdown, prosecutors said Saturday the unrest that began at the start of the year with peaceful protests over energy price hikes had left 225 people dead, including 19 law enforcement and military personnel.
Timur Kulibayev, 55, confirmed his resignation from the Atameken business lobby in a statement posted on the group’s website in the latest sign that the former first family has lost out in a tussle at the top.
“From today, I decided to resign as the elected Chairman of the Presidium of the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs ‘Atameken’,” Kulibayev said in the statement.
Kulibayev is married to Dinara Kulibayeva, the middle daughter of Kazakhstan’s founding president Nursultan Nazarbayev.
Much of the…
Source: Guardian Newspaper
