A Hint of Liberalisation?
A Hint of Liberalisation?
The fact that the presidential party Otan now totally dominates Kazak politics could paradoxically lead to a degree of liberalisation. NBCentralAsia analysts have arrived at this view in light of recent remarks by the president’s daughter, Dariga Nazarbaeva.
At the recent Congress of Kazakstan Journalists, Nazarbaeva, who heads the assembly’s executive board as well as being deputy head of Otan, expressed optimism that the party would lend its backing to a media bill proposed in June 2006, but later rejected in favour of amendments to the existing legislation. Many media-watchers condemned the amended law as undemocratic, and the opposition continues to demand that the revisions be annulled.
Speaking on behalf of another organisation, Kazakstan’s State Commission for Democratisation, Nazarbaeva has also called for political parties to be better represented in parliament, for the country to gradually move towards a mixed presidential-parliamentarian system, and for the parliamentarian majority to be given powers to form a government.
NBCentralAsia’s commentators say Nazarbaeva’s comments indicate that a degree of liberalisation might be on the horizon. The authorities may feel more secure about making concessions because Otan is in such an unassailable position, strengthened recently by its merger with Nazarbaeva’s own party Asar.
This confidence could give Kazakstan’s elite the space to allow some political freedoms, for example giving parties more of a role in parliament. Such a move would not threaten Otan, but would show the domestic audience and the international community that the government is prepared to make concessions.
Member of parliament Gadilbek Shalahmetov is among those who want to see more parties in the legislature. “We would really like to see some industrial or social democratic parties winning popular support, and then we could go through the process of forming a majority in parliament,” he told NBCentralAsia.
Seitkazy Mataev, the head of the Union of Journalists of Kazakstan, thinks Otan’s strong position could work in favour of concessions, including on the media law. “We have set up a working group to review the [rejected] draft law,” he said. “We plan to submit it again to parliament, where the majority are Otan members. We are not out for a confrontation, just a compromise.”
(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region.)
At the recent Congress of Kazakstan Journalists, Nazarbaeva, who heads the assembly’s executive board as well as being deputy head of Otan, expressed optimism that the party would lend its backing to a media bill proposed in June 2006, but later rejected in favour of amendments to the existing legislation. Many media-watchers condemned the amended law as undemocratic, and the opposition continues to demand that the revisions be annulled.
Speaking on behalf of another organisation, Kazakstan’s State Commission for Democratisation, Nazarbaeva has also called for political parties to be better represented in parliament, for the country to gradually move towards a mixed presidential-parliamentarian system, and for the parliamentarian majority to be given powers to form a government.
NBCentralAsia’s commentators say Nazarbaeva’s comments indicate that a degree of liberalisation might be on the horizon. The authorities may feel more secure about making concessions because Otan is in such an unassailable position, strengthened recently by its merger with Nazarbaeva’s own party Asar.
This confidence could give Kazakstan’s elite the space to allow some political freedoms, for example giving parties more of a role in parliament. Such a move would not threaten Otan, but would show the domestic audience and the international community that the government is prepared to make concessions.
Member of parliament Gadilbek Shalahmetov is among those who want to see more parties in the legislature. “We would really like to see some industrial or social democratic parties winning popular support, and then we could go through the process of forming a majority in parliament,” he told NBCentralAsia.
Seitkazy Mataev, the head of the Union of Journalists of Kazakstan, thinks Otan’s strong position could work in favour of concessions, including on the media law. “We have set up a working group to review the [rejected] draft law,” he said. “We plan to submit it again to parliament, where the majority are Otan members. We are not out for a confrontation, just a compromise.”
(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region.)
