Now you know why Nazarbayev opposes free elections.

Voice of Democracy
Published by Kazakhstan 21st Century Foundation · Washington, D.C. ·Nov. 25, 2002

NOW YOU KNOW WHY NAZARBAYEV OPPOSES FREE ELECTIONS ­ Former Prime Minister Akezhan Kazhegeldin may be on the top of the Kazakh dictator's enemies list, but he's on the top of another most wanted list among residents of Almaty. He's the prime minister the people of Almaty most admire, according to a new poll in the former capital. Kazhegeldin is living in exile because of regime attempts to seize or assassinate him, and he was tried in absentia last year and sentenced to 10 years in prison; a number of other political leaders who have broken with Nazarbayev already are in jail. Kazhegeldin remains "foremost in the minds of his countrymen because of the reforms he tried to introduce" as PM, writes Alexander Sosnin in the Almaty Herald Weekly. Among the Kazhegeldin reforms were initiating the transition to a free market economy, strong measures against inflation, an end to state regulation of bread prices, privatization of state industries in order to attract foreign investment, and reform of financial and municipal sectors of the economy, the article said. But his most important asset today is that he is seen as the leader of the opposition, and evidence of his popularity is that fact that Nazarbayev has had him banned from running for president or parliament, the article noted. http://www.herald.Kazakhstan/

BUSH INTERVENTION URGED -- Leaders of three major human rights organizations have called on President Bush to intervene "at the highest levels" of the Kazakh government for the release of jailed journalist Sergei Duvanov. The investigative reporter and human rights activist was accused of sexual assault of a minor and jailed on the eve of a trip to the United States, where he was to be honored by the International League for Human rights and to speak about corruption and the lack of press freedom in his country. The writers of the letter -- Elizabeth Anderson of Human Rights Watch, Ann Cooper of the Committee to Protect Journalists and Catherine Fitzpatrick of the International League for Human Rights -- said the circumstances of his arrest indicate a "political motive." Duvanov has been severely beaten, stabbed, threatened with death and arrested in the past "for his trenchant exposйs and analyses of government corruption," said the letter. http://www.hrw.org/, http://www.cpj.org, http://www.ilhr.org/

HOW TO BE MEANINGLESS -- Meetings of that new forum that President Nazarbayev is calling a permanent consultative body on questions of democratization will be by invitation only, and opposition parties may not be invited to send representatives, according to Interfax. Deputy Premier Baurzhan Mukhammedjanov said he personally is selecting the opposition politicians who may participate, not the groups themselves. http://www.itar-tass.com/

INTRUSIVE KAZAKH OFFICIALS DRIVING AWAY INVESTORS -- A consortium led by ChevronTexaco Corp. to develop Kazakhstan's largest oil field has suspended a planned $3-billion expansion of the Tengez oil field on the Caspian shore, according to published reports. Another consortium, Agip-KIOC, developing the larger Kashagan field in the Caspian is reportedly ready to drop a multi-billion-dollar expansion. In both instances, the cause appears to be increasing demands by the Kazakh government for major contract revisions. The Wall Street Journal reported the suspensions are signs that "the investment climate in the region is growing increasingly hostile to Western companies." One analyst told the New York Times the Kazakh government has been "pushing and squeezing investors" to extensively rewrite its agreements with the companies. The two fields represent 85% of Kazakhstan's planned production of 3 million barrels a day by 2015, according to the Moscow Times. The international oil companies are highly critical of "intrusiveness" by the Nazarbayev government that has "undermined contracts," the AP reported. "Western businesses also see increased political risk in Kazakhstan, where human rights violations have prompted criticism from the U.S. and European governments over the treatment of the political opposition and independent media." http://www.ap.org, http://www.themoscowtimes.com/

STRANGE BEDFELLOWS -- Kazakh officials may talk in Washington about their cooperation with the U.S.-led war against terror, but at the same time a senior representative of the Nazarbayev government went to Libya earlier this month to talk about improving relations with one of the most notorious state sponsors of terrorism. Mukhambet Kopey, deputy chairman of the Kazakh parliament, met in Tripoli with the speaker of the Libyan parliament earlier this month to discuss "bilateral relations between the two countries and ways of supporting and strengthening them," Libyan TV reported, as monitored by the BBC. http://news.bbc.co.uk/

MEDIA LAW REFORMS NOT SERIOUS -- The government's announced intention to write a new media law cannot be taken seriously because the drafting group includes no "serious specialists" on information law, the protection of democratic principles or experienced professional journalists, charged a watchdog group. As a result, conditions of journalists and the protection of press freedom are unlikely to improve, said Tamara Kaleyeva. She is president of Adil Soz, an international foundation for the protection of freedom of speech. It is a sham exercise by a government beset by international condemnation for its harsh and repressive treatment of the media. The new law, being drafted by ministers and others hand-picked by the regime responsible for the problem, is doomed to fail, she suggested. The Nazarbayev regime had been condemned by international rights organizations for its notorious practice of filing criminal charges against journalists who displease the dictator and sending gangs of plainclothes thugs to beat offenders, vandalize their offices and threaten their families. Adil Soz has called for "limited immunity" for journalists to protect them against government pressure and repression. http://www.interfax-news.com/

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