Kazakhstan’s President, Nursultan Nazarbayev, is a political figure. He began his career as a laborer at the Temirtau steel plant in Kazakhstan, progressing through the ranks of technician, economist, and finally ace metallurgist. His work at the Karaganda Metallurgical Plant earned him a lot of respect and established him as a capable leader who was well-liked and respected by all. Beginning his political career as a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1962, he rose through the ranks to become the secretary of the Kazakhstan Party and then President of the Republic, winning re-election several times. He has been credited with the majority of Kazakhstan’s prosperity after the country gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 and the formation of the Commonwealth of Independent States. He was strongly impressed by the democratic system of the United States and other Western allies, and he worked tirelessly to develop a comparable democratic system in his own country. Despite being vilified by many as dictatorial and tyrannical, his wise policies and approaches have undoubtedly contributed to the development of his country into an affluent and peaceful environment.
Childhood and Adolescence
Nazarbayev was born on July 6, 1940, in Chemolgan, near Almaty (Kazakhstan, USSR), to Kazakh peasants Abish and Alzhan Nazarbayev.
The family stayed in their hometown until Joseph Stalin’s collectivization policies forced them to go to the mountains, where they became nomads.
Nazarbayev’s boyhood was marked by poverty and famine as he persevered through the difficult days of the war and postwar years. Having witnessed his father’s struggle, he lent a hand in anything his father did at home and in the fields for a living.
They only returned to Chemolgan at the end of World War II, and Nazarbayey was sent to Kaskelen for schooling, where he learned the Russian language.
His intelligence and dedication helped him stand out among his classmates. His active participation in athletics made him physically robust and a wresting master.
Following his education, he received a government-sponsored scholarship to work at the Karaganda Steel Mill in Temirtau for a year. Later, he was moved to Ukraine and enrolled in the Dnieper Metallurgical Plant’s vocational school in Dneprodzerzhinsk.
By the age of 20, he had become self-sufficient thanks to some extremely dangerous acts he engaged in at the furnaces.
In 1967, he graduated from a technical school of the Karaganda Metallurgical Combine in Kazakhstan with a degree in metallurgy, and in 1976, he graduated from the Higher Party School in Moscow with a degree in metallurgy.
The Career of Nursultan
He worked as a steelworker and engineer at the Karaganda factory from 1960 to 1977.
Since its start on July 3, 1960, Nazarbayev has been a part of Kazakhstan Magnitka (the Karaganda Metallurgical Plant). He remained one of the greatest metallurgists despite the harsh working circumstances in the blast furnace.
In 1962, he joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), to which he devoted the majority of his time, and in 1972, he was elected secretary of the Karaganda Metallurgical Kombinat’s Communist Party Committee.
In 1972, he became the Secretary of the Party Committee of the Karaganda Metallurgical Plant, which was a watershed moment in his career. He was the plant’s second-highest official (behind the director), overseeing a workforce of 30000 workers.
His personal involvement at all levels, from production to management, as well as a pragmatic approach to issue solving and empathic leadership abilities, earned him the employees’ esteem.
In 1976, he rose through the ranks of the Karaganda Regional Party Committee to become the Second Secretary.
In 1979, Nazarbayev was elected to the Kazakhstan Politburo as a full-time member.
In 1984, he was elected Chairman of the Kazakh SSR Council of Ministers and became the USSR’s youngest prime minister (at 44 years old), a position he held until 1989.
Nazarbayev was chosen the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan on June 22, 1989, following the transfer of Gennady Kolbin (Congress of People’s Deputies) to Moscow.
In 1990, Nazarbayev was elected to the CPSU Politburo on a full-time basis.
Nursultan Nazarbayev was elected as Kazakhstan’s first President on April 24, 1990, when the Supreme Council of the Kazakh SSR proposed the position of President of the Kazakh SSR.
The overthrow of Mikhail Gorbachev in 1991 drew Nazarbayev’s vehement resistance, but his protests were in vain, leading to Nazarbayev’s departure from the Politburo in August 1991.
Nazarbayev was elected President of the Republic with a large majority in the inaugural presidential elections on December 1, 1991.
Through a referendum in 1995, Nazarbayev’s term was extended until 2000. As a result of the economic downturn, elections were held in 1999, and Nazarbayev was re-elected President.
After being re-elected with a 90% majority in 2005 for a seven-year term, he was exempted from the two-term presidential policy by a constitutional amendment ratified in 2007.
In 2010, the Kazakh parliament bestowed the title of ‘Leader of the Nation,’ and a referendum was held to cancel future two-term elections, thereby extending Nazarbayev’s presidency until 2020, but the Kazakhstan constitutional court refused to recognize it.
The referendum’s failure resulted in early elections in 2011, with Nazarbayev winning a 95 percent majority. The lack of substantial opposition and the politically limited activities were thought to be the grounds for Nazarbayev’s clear victory.
Nazarbayev was re-elected president in 2015, this time with a 95 percent majority.
Achievements & Awards
A postage stamp depicting Nazarbayev’s picture was issued in his honor.
The Order of the Golden Eagle, the Order of the Red Banner of Labour, the Order of the Badge of Honour, the Order of Alexander Nevsky, the Order of Akhmad Kadyrov, and many more have been bestowed upon him.
Other governments and international organizations have recognized him. The Grand Star of the Order of Leopold of Belgium, the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Nile of Egypt, the Grand Croix of the Légion d’honneur of France, the Order of Independence of Qatar, the Order of Liberty of Ukraine, and many others are among them.
As Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan, he was well aware of the public’s dissatisfaction with the central government’s monopoly. He fought for Kazakhstan’s economic independence by instituting democratic procedures such as the worker’s union.
His support for the “Nevada-Semipalatinsk” (environmental movement in 1989) campaign to close the dangerous Semipalatinsk test site was internationally lauded.
Nazarbayev proposed to the United Nations General Assembly that the 29th of August be designated as the International Day Against Nuclear Tests.
Kazakhstan gained complete independence from the Soviet Union in December 1991, thanks to the Alma-Ata Protocol, which led to the formation of the Commonwealth of Independent States (the union of former Soviet republics), which included Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, and seven other former Soviet republics.
The “Eurasian Union” was established on May 29, 2014, as a result of his initiative to merge the booming European and Asian economies. Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan signed a pact to share a shared economic area of 170 million people.
His passion for the environment was demonstrated by his pointing out ecological imbalances impacting the Aral Sea and his call to Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and other countries to remedy environmental damage created during the Soviet era.
Nazarbayev signed a treaty authorizing the Central Asian Nuclear Weapon Free Zone on September 8, 2006.
He is credited for developing Kazakhstan’s 2050 Strategy in 2012, which aims to strengthen Kazakhstan’s position as one of the world’s top 30 emerging countries.
Personal History and Legacy
His grandmother, Myrzabala, suggested the name Nursultan, and she is thought to have had a significant effect on his upbringing and attitude.
Sara Alpysqyzy is Nazarbayev’s wife, and they have three daughters together.
Dariga, Dinara, and Aliya are three of Dariga’s friends.
Estimated Net worth
Nursultan is one of the wealthiest politicians and one of the most well-known. Nursultan Nazarbayev’s net worth is estimated to be $3.1 billion, according to Wikipedia, Forbes, and Business Insider.