Archive · 2025 · From the print edition of Friday 14 March 2025, Vol. 32, No. 10,019
NewsA new minister, signed by the Lieutenant Governor
Jamila Kubatova, a pediatrician, is the new Minister of Health. Her directive is the first appointment since July 2024, and it is signed by Aidar Maksat "acting on the instructions of the Governor".
TALAS — Jamila Kubatova, a pediatrician and deputy chief physician of the Regional Hospital, has been appointed Minister of Health, the Department of Public Information announced yesterday. She replaces a minister who retired at the end of February.
The appointment was made by executive directive, as ministerial appointments always are. What was new was the signature. The directive was signed by Lieutenant Governor Aidar Maksat, "acting on the instructions of the Governor". It is the first appointment of a minister since Governor Erlan Toktarov's last public appearance, in July last year.
Opposition commentators asked who had chosen her. "The question is not whether Dr. Kubatova is a good doctor. Everyone at the Regional Hospital says she is," said a Talas lawyer who has written on the Elective Governor Acts. "The question is who signed, and on whose instructions." Asked the same question, a DPI spokeswoman said the directive "speaks for itself".
Dr. Kubatova, 57, has worked at the Regional Hospital since 1993. Colleagues said her first priority would be a catch-up round of measles vaccination in the districts. The Ministry of Health reports to the Lieutenant Governor.