A Kazakh politician with a pedigree unexpectedly loses her job

WHEN HE STEPPED down abruptly as president of Kazakhstan last year after 30 years in power, Nursultan Nazarbayev appeared to take out an insurance policy. As stipulated in the constitution, he was succeeded by the speaker of the Senate, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, who was later affirmed as president in a rubber-stamp election. To replace Mr Tokayev as speaker, the Senate chose none other than Dariga Nazarbayeva, the outgoing president’s daughter. Should Mr Nazarbayev for some reason feel let down by Mr Tokayev, many speculated, an even more loyal lieutenant was poised to take charge—or perhaps was being groomed to advance a Nazarbayev dynasty in due course. So when Ms Nazarbayeva lost her job this week, Kazakhs were left surprised and confused.

Ms Nazarbayeva was replaced by Maulen Ashimbayev, a technocrat who is thought to be closer to Mr Tokayev than Mr Nazarbayev. That prompted talk that Mr Tokayev, who is widely seen as the puppet to Mr Nazarbayev’s puppeteer, was trying to bolster his authority. But the “Leader of the Nation”, as Mr Nazarbayev is officially known, still chairs the committee that controls the security forces and could certainly have prevented the change had he wanted to. That suggests that Ms Nazarbayeva has fallen foul not of Mr Tokayev, but of her father. If so, her problems probably stem not from events in Nur-...