Gulbanu ABENOVA
ASTANA, July 12
(THE GLOBE)
�Today all day the Prime Minister and the government has been waiting for either a written or oral announcement by the leaders of Russia. But for the time been there was no announcement. That is why the Prime Minister still refrains from any comments,� the head of the press service of the Kazakhstan government announced to THE GLOBE on July 12 in Astana. Vitaly Kiyanitsa states that the meeting with Yuryi Koptev, the head of the Russian delegation arrived on the last Friday to Kazakhstan had excited the Prime Minister�s bewilderment due to a slow reaction of the Russian leaders and the absence of the Russian Prime Minister Stepashin or his deputy Aksenenko. The Kazakhstan party repeatedly announced that until the situation is clarified, no launches would be permitted.
�Now though it seems paradoxical, the launch to be made on July 14 is delayed not due to the Kazakhstan party, but by the Russian one because of its slow reaction,� Mr. Kiyanitsa stated.
Vitaly Kiyanitsa emphasised that that was not just the ambitions of the Kazakhstan Prime Minister to wait for a call of the Russian PM or his deputy. We require the political guarantee at the high Russian State level. Russia did not initiate any definite negotiations to discuss concrete proposals. According to the representative of the press service, Russia has confirmed the damage, �but the fact of the confirmation is not a variant of solution.�
As far as the launch on July 14 is concerned, Mr. Kiyanitsa said that possibly, the flight would not take place. �Now it is Russia who is to pronounce its word,� Vitaly Kiyanitsa emphasised. According to the head of the press service, Russia is losing much money and puts under threat the team of �Mir� station and three spacemen.
�The Prime Minister said that we understood that that was an international team consisting of three persons, but we did not forget that 15 million of Kazakhstan people lived on the ground,� Mr. Kiyanitsa stated.
Mir has developed a problem which is making air pressure fall slowly although a space official said Saturday that the men on board were in no immediate danger.
Kazakhstan, which has enjoyed generally good relations with its mighty northern neighbor since independence in 1991, has dug its heels in the latest showdown, in spite of promises by Russia Sunday to pay for any damages from the crash.
Balgimbayev said a general agreement under which Russia rents Baikonur may have to be restructured.
�All of this forces Kazakhstan to rethink a number of aspects as to how Baikonur is used, including moving from a system of warning about impending launches to a permission system,� he said.
Local media have speculated that Kazakhstan may use its strong bargaining hand to squeeze out extra concessions from Moscow. Russia has run up arrears of over $300 million for the use of the base, the annual rent for which is $115 million.
Russian officials have sought to play down the row, and the Baikonur spokesman said preparations for the Progress launch were underway in spite of the suspension.
�We are preparing for the launch Wednesday,� he said. �However, it is not clear what the situation over the ban is, and I�m not prepared to try to predict what will happen.�
TEHRAN, July 12 (AFP)
Iranian security forces used clubs and tear gas to disperse demonstrators here Monday as President Mohammad Khatami called for calm and Iran�s supreme leader also sought to curb mounting student anger.
At least 12 demonstrators were injured and 20 arrested as baton-wielding policemen clashed with stone-throwing protestors in a downtown Tehran square, on the fifth day of the worst unrest here since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Khatami, Iran�s reformist president, appealed for calm on Monday and warned demonstrating university students to be wary of �provocations� from opponents of reform.
�There are those who want to create provocations and clashes,� the official IRNA news agency quoted Khatami as telling Higher Education Minister Mostafa Moin, a close ally whose resignation in protest at a police clampdown on the student protests he rejected on Sunday.
Michail SERGEEV,
ALMATY, July 12 (THE GLOBE)
It is known that on July 7, 1999 the President of RK signed the decree �On appointment of the next elections to the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan�. The election to the Senate, the Upper House of the Parliament will take place on September 17, to the Mazhilis � on October 10, 1999. It is interesting how different political parties evaluate this decree. THE GLOBE asked some of the parties to comment the document.
According to Pyotr Svoik, �Azamat� party has no claims to the terms of the election. As far as this point is concerned, the co-chairman of the party believes that the provisions of the Constitutions are observed.
�Azamat� party is going to take part in the election both by the parties� list and in electoral districts. Pyotr Svoik announced that the party had taken an official decision regarding the candidates to be nominated. The list of the candidates will be sounded at the conference, which is to be held in the beginning of August.
The party�s list will be headed by the chairman of the party Galym Abilseitov, then there will be his two deputies Pyotr Svoik and Murat Auezov.
�We have serious ambitions, that is why we are going to nominate all ten persons, though, possibly, not all of us will be elected,� the co-chairman stated.
The main problem of the election will be the transparency of the election commissions and honest calculation of the votes.
�If the election is free, we will have very serious chances to become a representative parliamentary fraction,� Svoik said.
To prevent falsifications at the next election �we have officially sent a note signed by the party�s chairman to the central election committee, where we mentioned all types of falsifications which may be applied to during the election.� �We directly mention concrete mechanisms and proposals to the central election committee in order the latter may correct the situation and prevent the falsifications,� Mr. Svoik announced.
According to the co-chairman, these proposals completely comply with both the competence of the central election committee and its real capacities.
The chairman of �Orleu� movement believes that the period of three months does not contradict to the Constitution and is enough to prepare for the election.
�The key problem mentioned by �Orleu� movement is transparency of the election,� Nariman Bekeshev stated.
In his opinion, the main problem is that the chairmen of the regional central election committees are appointed by the executive authorities and implicitly fulfil their will.
�Now we apply to OSCE and other international organisations with the request to send observers to those election districts where candidates of the opposition will be put to the vote,� he emphasised.
Despite this, Mr. Bekeshev said that �Orleu� has apprehensions based on the previous elections that there will be no honest parliamentary election.
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