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| | ViewsWire |
 | | In Mr Akhmetov's case, there were persistent rumours of his imminent dismissal in the run-up to the December 2005 presidential election, the theory being that he would remain in his post long enough to engineer another comfortable victory for the president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, but that he would be dismissed shortly afterwards. |
 | | The final step towards removing Mr Akhmetov may have been, ironically, the fact that Mr Masimov was relieved of the economy portfolio in October 2006—a move that at the time seemed a mere reshuffle, but that with hindsight is likely to have paved the way for Mr Masimov's promotion. |
 | | Mr Akhmetov was widely reputed to be loyal, but lacking in charisma; this was both a strength and a weakness, in that he did not pose a threat to Mr Nazarbayev, but neither was he able to implement government policy effectively—including by controlling state agencies. |
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