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The major characteristics of Kazakhstan's presidential system since the early 1990s are analyzed. After a brief description of the formation of the Kazakh political system, with its dovetailing of political and economic interests, focus shifts to actors in this system, in particular to the competition between members of the presidential "family", technocrats in the presidential administration and oligarchs. Shedding light on these actors' rationales reveals that the access to resources and control over wealth lie at the center of the political battles being fought over succession to the presidency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]