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Eurasia
June 14, 2019 www.intellinews.com I Page 16
Kazakh bonds hit new high after Tokayev’s election victory
bne IntelliNews
Kazakhstan’s sovereign dollar bonds rose to record highs on June 10 following the announcement of pre- liminary results of the snap presidential election that showed Interim President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev won the vote by slightly more than 70% of the vote.
The gains included the 2045 issue growing 2.9 cents to trade at 134.487 cents in the dollar and the 2044 issue rising 2.6 cents to trade at 111.09 in the dollar, Tradeweb data showed. Though Tokayev’s victory was met with economic anxiety-driven protests at home, traders likely saw the victory as a continuation of political stability under the firm grip of ex-president Nursultan Nazarbayev, who has been coordinating the transition of power.
Career diplomat Tokayev, 66, is seen by Kazakh citizens as a temporary transition figure who is meant to set the stage for the rise of the true suc- cessor to Nazarbayev, namely his daughter Dariga Nazarbayeva. Dariga currently holds the position of senate speaker, making her constitutionally obli- gated to take over the presidential post in the event of Tokayev stepping down.
The 78-year-old Nazarbayev’s ongoing hold on power from behind the scenes stems from his position as chairman of the influential Security Council, life-time title of Leader of the Nation and his status as head of the ruling Nur Otan (Radiant Fatherland) party.
The protests in Kazakhstan that broke out over June 9-11 and led to an official tally of around 700 arrests, appeared to lose steam on June 12. Very few people managed to show up for what activists hoped would be countrywide demonstrations on a
day that saw Tokayev ceremonially inaugurated as president.
This was partly due to the authorities pre-emptively deploying masses of police officers to areas where protests were set to take place in Almaty and Nur- Sultan. Officials also made it clear that there was an unofficial semi-curfew in effect on June 12. They ordered offices to send employees home early and urged people to not go out into the streets. Some businesses were closed down early as well.
All messenger apps, including WhatsApp and Tel- egram, were down on the day. Some Kazakhs got around this restriction by turning to a mobile bank- ing application belonging to the local Kaspi Bank. It allowed people to send each other messages that could be pinned to small sum money transfers.
At Astana Square in Almaty, bne IntelliNews spot- ted scores of policemen along with numerous local journalists clad in yellow vests tagged “PRESS”. The protesters themselves were seldom to be found, with law enforcement mostly focused on round- ing up bystanders and passersby. Media outlets reported the arrests of 100-150 people, but very few of those detained were likely even out on the streets with the intent of joining demonstrations.
Tokayev’s inauguration speech earlier on June 12 attempted to address the situation in a country where many people seized on the first chance in three decades to elect a president other than au- tocrat Nazarbayev to let out their frustrations with the economic and political systems.
"Dialogue between the authorities and the people is needed," he concluded during the speech, noting that such dialogue "must be based on the recogni-