People’s Hero label for personality cult leader

Kazakhstan plans to honour its former Communist Party chief with the newly created title of People’s Hero, adding to the state-sponsored adulation showered upon the country’s only post-independence leader.

Nursultan Nazarbayev, 71, is already officially “Elbasy” (“leader of the nation”), a status that gives him the right to approve important policies after he retires and grants him lifetime immunity from prosecution. Over the past year, his life and career have been celebrated in a film, a play and children’s fairy tales.

The proposal for the new title came from prime minister Karim Masimov. Yesterday, he said: “Dear members of the government, I am now signing this document, which is probably the most important document I have ever signed in my life.”

Parliament, in which only the pro-government Nur Otan party sits, is expected to rubber-stamp the decision.