Najib's daughter to wed Kazakh beau on March 28?

 

There is buzz on social media about a wedding between Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's daughter Nooryana Najwa and her Kazakh beau Daniyar Kesikbayev.

The speculation intensified after photographs of their purported wedding invitation was circulated.

While the Prime Minister's Office has remained tightlipped on the matter when queried, Daniyar's mother, however, declined to confirm or deny the wedding.

In an email response to Malaysiakini, Maira Kesikbayev, through her New York-based spokesperson, said: "We have no comment at this time."

As for the wedding invitation, it comes in a gold and white box, which includes a scroll as well as a card for those invited to confirm their attendance.

The card stated that the wedding will be held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre on March 28 at 8pm.

Nooryana and Daniyar reportedly met in the United States, where the couple pursued their tertiary education.

A check by Malaysiakini revealed that the KLCC venue for March 28 has already been booked but it could not be confirmed for whom.

Nooryana, 26, is the eldest of Najib and Rosmah Mansor's two children. Najib also has three other children from his previous marriage with Tengku Puteri Zainah Tengku Eskandar.

The prime minister's future son-in-law is related to Kazakhstan president Nursultan Nazarbayev, who is the brother of Daniyar's stepfather.

In 2012, Daniyar became embroiled in controversy amid his mother's legal tussle with his stepfather Bolat Nazarbayev.

Bolat, in a suit against Maira at the Manhattan Supreme Court, had accused his ex-wife of cheating him of a US$20 million New York apartment and spending US$75 million of his money on jewellery.

He also accused Maira of being wanted by Interpol for kidnapping and extortion.

According to New York Post, court documents also claimed that Daniyar had forged his education qualification to get into Columbia University.

Maira had denied being wanted by the authorities or having committed any wrongdoing.

An aide close to Rosmah had later described the controversy as being "exaggerated".

In the purported wedding card, Danayir's surname "Nazarbayev", which was widely used in the media, was dropped in favour of his old surname "Kasikbayev".

His mother had reportedly changed Danayir's surname to Nazarbayev previously to have the same family name as the Kazakhstan president.

Maira's name made news again in 2013 when it was revealed that the controversial RM24 million diamond ring which was brought into Malaysia under Rosmah's name was for the former's viewing.

Maria was then said to be residing at the prime minister's residence in Putrajaya as a guest.