In a move widely interpreted as Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev consolidating his hold on power, he has appointed his daughter, Saida Mirziyoyeva, as head of the presidential administration – a role regarded as the second most powerful position in the country.

The appointment was made by presidential decree, and recreates a role that had been formally abolished in 2023 as part of a wider programme of institutional reform. The reinstatement of the post, and Mirziyoyeva’s appointment to it, sends a clear message about the centralisation of executive control in the hands of the Mirziyoyev family.

Mirziyoyeva previously served as an aide to her father, but the new appointment “casts her status in stone”, according to one Tashkent-based analyst. From having been a mere aide, she is now at the very heart of the state’s policy making and communications apparatus.

Already a significant figure in Uzbek politics, she made a brief appearance at the recent Tashkent International Investment Forum (TIIF), where she toured the stands representing Uzbekistan top companies with a large delegation in tow and a security detail of beefy agents.

The optics of the announcement were equally telling. Official government handouts from the first meeting chaired by Mirziyoyeva in her new role featured another familiar figure in Uzbek political life: Komil Allamjonov, the former press secretary and information czar.

Allamjonov had faded from view in recent months following a dramatic incident last October, when gunmen opened fire on his car in what was widely seen as an attempted assassination. At the time, the attack sent shockwaves through Uzbekistan’s typically quiet and tightly managed political landscape.

His reappearance alongside Mirziyoyeva is likely to be read as a sign of renewed influence – and possibly reconciliation – within the upper ranks of Uzbekistan’s ruling elite.

The developments come as Mirziyoyev continues to recalibrate Uzbekistan’s governance structure following his 2023 constitutional reforms, which allowed him to reset presidential term limits and extend his hold on power potentially well into the next decade.

While officials have framed the changes as part of a “modernisation” agenda, the reassertion of presidential authority and the prominent role of family members raise a question mark over the trajectory of reform and the balance of power in Central Asia’s most populous state. Uzbekistan does not have a happy history when it comes to powerful presidential daughters.

Uzbekistan’s previous president, Islam Karimov, was marred by familial influence. His elder daughter, Gulnara Karimova, known as “Googoosha”, once styled herself as a pop star, fashion designer and diplomat, but also became a multimillionaire thanks to various dubious business deals. She served for a while as Uzbekistan’s permanent representative to the United Nations in Geneva, where she bought a luxurious villa on Lake Geneva, and held various other advisory roles. However, she wielded far greater informal power behind the scenes, with close ties to business empires, state contracts and the media.

Karimova’s fall from power was dramatic, after she appeared to make a bid for her aging father’s job. After a very public rift with her mother and sister, she was placed under house arrest in 2014. In the years that followed, she was convicted on multiple charges of corruption, extortion and embezzlement. In 2020, Uzbek prosecutors claimed she had returned more than $1.3bn in assets, much of it stashed abroad.

After breaking the terms of her house arrest after her father’s death, she was eventually jailed and sentenced to 13-years in a prison located in the Zangiota district, just outside Tashkent. Reports indicate that she receives special “VIP” treatment – such as separate accommodations, deliveries from outside and certain privileges – despite her incarceration.

Family is important in neighbouring Turkmenistan as well. In 2022, Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov stepped down after fifteen years in power, handing his mantle over to his son, Serdar Berdymukhamedov, in a tightly managed election. Serdar won 73% of the vote, but control of the gas-rich state remains firmly in the family’s hands: Gurbanguly retains the title of “National Leader” and chairs the upper house of parliament, widely viewed as the real seat of authority.

President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon is the only one of the Central Asian presidents that took over in 1991 still in power and is also preparing the way for his eldest son, Rustam Emomali to take over.

Rustam was promoted to the chair of the upper house of parliament, the National Assembly, in April 2020 – technically the second‑highest official in the state and constitutionally first in line to succeed the president if he should die. He also holds the military rank of Major General, despite no combat service.

Previously, Rustam served as the Mayor of Dushanbe, the capital, after being appointed in January 2017 at age 29. His siblings also hold powerful offices and reportedly live in luxury in the otherwise impoverished mountainous country. Rustam’s sister, Ozoda Rahmon, is the presidential chief of staff. Other siblings occupy roles in diplomacy, state banking, media, pharmaceuticals and transport.

Rahmon himself has secured lifetime powers through 2016 constitutional reforms that included immunity and removal of term limits and is believed to be slowly preparing the way for his son to take over. Last week, Rustam was in Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in what analysts say was a discussion to pave the way for the external legitimisation of the transition of power.

In 2023, Putin also met Akhmat Kadyrov, the eldest son of Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov, who is also believed to be preparing the way for his son to take control of the autonomous Russian Republic that Kadyrov runs like a personal fiefdom.

Akhmat has recently held several official roles, including: First Deputy Minister of Physical Culture, Sports and Youth Policy and head of the Republic’s football team.