Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

Kazakhstan's longest-serving prime minister, Karim Masimov, has resigned and was immediately named by Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev to head the presidential administration, Radio Liberty reported.

Nazarbaev also accepted the resignations of the entire cabinet, but ordered ministers to continue working until a new government is confirmed by parliament.

Masimov was prime minister of Central Asia's largest economy since January 2007.

The previous head of the presidential administration, Aslan Musin, was named last week to head the government's budget-auditing committee.

During a last cabinet meeting in Astana on Monday, Masimov thanked Nazarbaev and the cabinet for their confidence in him.

Former Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Serik Akhmetov will become the new Prime Minister of the country, presidential advisor Yermukhamet Yertysbaev said in an interview with Trend news agency.

Yertysbaev also said that the president held a meeting with employees of the Ak Orda, during which he praised Masimov's work as prime minister.

"The government when led by Masimov worked well. I strongly disagree with conclusions and statements of other experts that there was no innovation component in the activities of the government led by Karim Masimov," Yertysbaev said.

Yertysbaev reminded that the Masimov government had faced the global financial crisis and was able to overcome it.

"This has been recognised also by the World Bank and other financial institutions," Yertysbaev said.

He believes that leaving the prime minister post was Masimov's personal desire to change post.

"He wrote the resignation letter himself. There was a great workload in his seven years of office and his resignation and new appointment was associated with it," Yertysbaev said.

According to Yertysbaev, Serik Akhmetov's main task as the new prime minister will be an industrial and innovative program.

In various years, Serik Akhmetov served as Deputy Governor of Astana, head of State Inspection Department of Organisational and Control Work and Personnel Policy of Kazakh Presidential Administration, as Chairman of the Board of the Atameken National Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers of Kazakhstan. In November 2009, he became the Akim (Governor) of Karaganda region.

From January 2012, he served as First Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan.

Chain of reshuffle in the Kazakh leadership is a logical conclusion, Executive Director of Political Center North-South, political analyst, Alexei Vlasov believes.

"On Friday position of Presidential Administration's head became vacant. Today "long-playing" Prime Minister Karim Masimov resigned. Now Nursultan Nazarbayev has a chance to place the key figures in new order," Vlasov said commenting on the reshuffle in the Kazakh government.

Vlasov said former head of presidential administration Aslan Musin has become the head of the Committee of Accounts, and although, from a formal point of view, it is sharp demotion, no one can predict what will be the role of the Committee of Accounts and its new leader in conditions of increasingly intensifying anti-corruption campaign.

With regard to Karim Masimov, according to the expert, he can be called the most successful Prime Minister in the history of independent Kazakhstan.

"It's not that what the statistics showing the country's economic success are. The main point is that Masimov became the prime minister, who "dealt with issues" and on many positions he was indispensable to President Nursultan Nazarbayev. Mainly this factor is emphasized by many local experts predicting Masimov's appointment as head of the presidential administration," Vlasov said.

"However, Kazakh president's will may change all these things, as usually happens in Kazakhstan. In any case, one should wait no long," Vlasov said.