Voice of Democracy
Published by Kazakhstan 21st Century Foundation · Washington, D.C. ·March. 8, 2004

ONE-STOP NUCLEAR SHOPPING -- Kazakhstan may have been the nuclear Walmart for rogue nations, where the baddest of the bad came shopping for the worst of the worst. A nuclear black market supplying Iran, Libya and North Korea may have been run out of the Almaty office of a Dubai firm linked by President Bush to the smuggling operation headed by the father of Pakistan's nuclear program, reports the Associated Press. A question facing investigators is how much did the Kazakh government know and what role, if any, did it have in the black market operation? Kazakhstan was the armory and testing ground for much of the Soviet nuclear arsenal prior to gaining independence in 1991. Kazakh officials insist that no weapons grade uranium has illegally left their country, according to the AP. Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of Pakistan's nuclear program, has confessed to leaking nuclear technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea. The Dubai firm allegedly was the chief financial officer, money launderer and shipping agent for the nuclear network. Kazakhstan reportedly still holds several tons of plutonium plus small amounts of highly enriched uranium, but a spokeswoman for the country's national atomic energy company, declared, "It is impossible to illegally take any uranium out of Kazakhstan." However, the AP reports "huge amounts of unguarded nuclear waste…are scattered around the country."http://www.insidebaltimore.com/news/world/04-02-20-nuc-black-market.shtml

DYNASTY -- When the dictator's ambitious daughter forms her own political party and predicts it will win half the seats in the next parliamentary election in a country notorious for rigged voting, the first word that usually comes to mind is dynasty. Dariga Nazarbayeva, 40, denies she is "seeking office in the top echelons of so-called big politics," but that doesn't dampen the speculation; after all, observers say, no one publicly admits to such ambition. Petr Svoik, head of the opposition party, Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan, said he believes the Nazarbayevs are ``definitely'' preparing a family succession, noting it will take a lot of "calculation and complicated maneuvering." President Nursultan Nazarbayev has ruled since the old communist days in 1989; after a brief flirtation with democratic reform, he has become increasingly autocratic. At 63 and in apparent good health, he is believed to be planning to run for another seven year term in 2006. Opposition journalist Sergei Duvanov, who was jailed on trumped up charges of rape for publishing exposes about Nazarbayev's corruption, said the daughter needs her new party to make a political name for herself in preparation for taking power "when it's needed." Nazarbayeva 's new party, Asar, or All Together, gets what the AP called "generous coverage." That's because of daddy's control of the media and the fact that Nazarbayeva is arguably the country's leading media mogul. She heads Khabar, the country's largest and most influential media group. The party platform embraces democracy, but so does her father, who has shown there is a wide gap between promise and performance. http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/ap/ap_story.html/Intl/AP.V8305.AP-Kazakhstan Pres.html

REFORM STEPS FALL SHORT -- An attempt by the Kazakh parliament to overhaul the country's electoral system, notorious for repeated fraud and abuse, falls short of guaranteeing this year's voting will be free and fair. It fails to reverse a previous law intended to vastly limit the number of parties which could compete to those approved by the regime. As one pro-democracy activist said, reforms "don't guarantee fair elections." Agence France Presse notes that "Flawed elections and referenda are widely seen as having been key to the survival in office of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev." The increasingly autocratic ruler reportedly plans to run for another seven-year term in 2006. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has strongly criticized Kazakh electoral practices and attempts at reform; Nazarbayev has been told that his bid to chair OSCE in 2009 is in danger unless meaningful changes are made. Pro-democracy parties have had considerable trouble registering or holding public rallies, but no so for a new party formed by the dictator's daughter and possible heir. http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/68151/1/.html

For the full stories, see the web citations above or contact us at News@Kazakhstan21.org or see VOD Archives [http://iicas.org/english/enlibrary/libr_16_03_01kp.htm]. The Kazakhstan 21st Century Foundation promotes democracy and human rights in Kazakhstan through public affairs and educational programs in the United States and Europe. This material is distributed by Kazakhstan 21st Century Foundation.

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