Fair Deal for Ethnic Minorities Seen as Crucial for Progress
Fair Deal for Ethnic Minorities Seen as Crucial for Progress
When the Assembly of Peoples of Kazakstan meets on October 24, it will discuss how maintaining harmonious ethnic and interfaith relations is essential to the country’s plans for further growth. NBCentralAsia commentators say Kazakstan would have far few ethnic problems if the Assembly stopped being just a consultative forum and started playing a more significant role.
Ahead of the meeting, the Slavic organisation Lad issued a statement claiming that non-Kazaks are subject to “gentle discrimination”, that ethnic minority legislation is defective, and that equal rights are not afforded to all. These factors are an obstacle to social cohesion and are preventing Kazakstan from emerging as a leading economic power, the statement said.
The Assembly of Peoples cooperates with cultural, religious and ethnic centres across the country. But NBCentralAsia commentators say that because it merely has a consultative role, it finds it difficult to respond to complaints and proposals from the country’s various ethnic minorities, The Assembly has the power only to offer recommendations, and its powers are limited since all decisions on ethnic affairs are ultimately made by Kazakstan’s government and parliament.
As a result, it remains unclear how the assembly can deliver on its October 19 pledge to ensure that ethnic minorities are better represented in parliament and in government. Figures in the public domain suggest that around 90 per cent of government officials are ethnic Kazaks, a group which accounts for just over half the country’s population.
Although NBCentralAsia analyst Eduard Poletayev accepts that a “glass ceiling” does exist for minorities, he argues this has not had disastrous results as most ethnic communities have carved out a specific economic niche for themselves. “For example, Russians do well strong in small- and medium-size business and in the processing and mining industries. The Koreans are active in construction and copper mining, and the Azerbaijanis are in the restaurant trade,” he said.
(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region.)
Ahead of the meeting, the Slavic organisation Lad issued a statement claiming that non-Kazaks are subject to “gentle discrimination”, that ethnic minority legislation is defective, and that equal rights are not afforded to all. These factors are an obstacle to social cohesion and are preventing Kazakstan from emerging as a leading economic power, the statement said.
The Assembly of Peoples cooperates with cultural, religious and ethnic centres across the country. But NBCentralAsia commentators say that because it merely has a consultative role, it finds it difficult to respond to complaints and proposals from the country’s various ethnic minorities, The Assembly has the power only to offer recommendations, and its powers are limited since all decisions on ethnic affairs are ultimately made by Kazakstan’s government and parliament.
As a result, it remains unclear how the assembly can deliver on its October 19 pledge to ensure that ethnic minorities are better represented in parliament and in government. Figures in the public domain suggest that around 90 per cent of government officials are ethnic Kazaks, a group which accounts for just over half the country’s population.
Although NBCentralAsia analyst Eduard Poletayev accepts that a “glass ceiling” does exist for minorities, he argues this has not had disastrous results as most ethnic communities have carved out a specific economic niche for themselves. “For example, Russians do well strong in small- and medium-size business and in the processing and mining industries. The Koreans are active in construction and copper mining, and the Azerbaijanis are in the restaurant trade,” he said.
(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region.)
