ELECTION

O. Suleimenov

RPPK withdrew candidates

ALMATY, Sep 28

(THE GLOBE)

�According to the resolution of the conference held on August 19, we withdraw our party�s list,� a RPPK�s candidate to the Mazhilis announced on Tuesday in Almaty.

We remind you by the majority of votes the decision to withdraw the party�s list was taken at the conference that if Akezhan Kazhegeldin is not registered as a candidate

According to Rashid Nugmanov, �the Central Election Commission rejected Mr. Kazhegeldin�s participation in the election despite the Constitution and repeated statements of officials.�

�Of course, we have some doubts, whether we should have withdrawn our candidatures, but the situation was so that practically all RPPK�s list was completely isolated,� another member of the RPPK�s list stated.

Nurbulat Masanov said that all their efforts to meet electors had failed, as �everywhere we could not get schools, institutes and other institutions� to held a meeting.

The former candidate said that they also had problems concerning publications of materials, as publishing houses and editions rejected to print products of RPPK.

The total number of RPPK�s candidates was 9, including Kazhegeldin and Ismailov (who were not adopted), Gabdullin (left for a one-mandate district), and Voronov (who dropped out from the party).

Nurbulat Masanov emphasised that 20 candidates officially nominated by the RPPK conference in one-mandate districts would continue their pre-election fight.

�Our boycott of the election does not mean that we reject the struggle for democracy, as this struggle has just started,� he added.

THE GLOBE asked the high-rank representatives of political parties and movements to comment the announcement.

Pyotr Svoik, a co-chairman of �Azamat� party:

This previously predicted result is one of the signs of the systematic collapse of RPPK, which tries to pretend to put a brave face on a sorry business. The party�s list of RPPK was initially unelectable, as it purposefully included Kazhegeldin and Ismailov, whom the Central Election Commission would not register. That means that they planned beforehand their non-participation in the election.

Now RPPK withdraws the list, though the party does not reject to participate in the election, the party just withdraws the party�s list. This is not a sign of protest, but a sign of defeat.

Seidakhmet Kuttykadam, the leader of �Orleu� movement:

Initially RPPK announced that they would withdraw their party�s list, if Kazhegeldin was not adopted to the election. To my mind there is a contradiction.

As the party is going to participate in the election by one-mandate districts, maybe, it would be reasonable to try by the party�s list to try themselves.

Rakhmet Mukashev, the head of the pre-election headquarter of Civil Party:

Of course, this is a personal business of RPPK. We as a party, which also is busy with the pre-election fight, are sorry, that such a competitor leaves the stage. The fight would have been more interesting, if they had not withdrawn the party�s list.

It seems to me that this is just the result of those big problems, which touched the party, from the leader to the common members, as well as of processes observed in RPPK.

Public debates: the pre-election discussion of candidates is going on

Michail SERGEEV

Beibars BATYRKHANOV

ALMATY, Sept 27

(THE GLOBE)

On Monday in the Medeu district of Almaty the next pre-election debates were held. This time four candidates to the Mazhilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan (Bakhytzhamal Bekturganova, the deputy of the chairman of the party �Political alliance of women�s organisations�, Nurbulat Masanov, a politologist, the representative of RPPK, as well as two independent candidates in the Medeu election district, Edel Mynzhanov and Aralbek Adilov) met at the political stage.

We remind you that the Medeu district of the southern capital is the most numerous by the number of candidates. In this district 16 candidates are striving for a cherished deputy�s sit. THE GLOBE gives the Reader the sharpest statements of the participants of the public debates.

�Reforms should not do harm to the society, but serve it. Kazakhstan requires the tough Parliamentary control for the government�s activity,� Bakhytzhamal Bekturganova said. In her opinion, first of all reforms are to be oriented to the socially vulnerable strata of the population, but the reforms are not to be realised at their expense.

�It is necessary to restore the pensioners� privileges owing the abandonment of the governmental functionaries� privileges,� the deputy of the chairman of the alliance added.

Mrs. Bekturganova believes that to improve and to reform our economy we still have unutilised sources (legalisation of the shadow profits, which cannot be liquidated in any case).

�These profits are to be forced to work for the economy,� Mrs. Bekturganova stated. To do this it is required to apply to a differentiated method. First of all this is the struggle against the criminal part of the economy and the introduction of the standard tax rates on the illegal and semi-legal part of the shadow profits.

Having touched the recent scandal connected with the activity of the Association of Sociologists and Politologists, Bakhytzhamal Bekturganova said that �today the authorities� parties giving free promises, can be unsatisfied with the results of the public polls, as the society has appreciated them really.�

According to another participant of the debates, Nurbulat Masanov, for the normal development the country should come to the two-pole, and later � to the multi-pole political system. He emphasised that this is to be based on the re-distribution of the authority from the President to the Parliament and to the local self-governing bodies.

�We agree that the cabinet of ministers is to be formed by the majority of the Parliament, as well as we agree with the immediate stoppage of construction in Astana and reduction of the money intended for maintenance of the state administration,� the representative of RPPK stated.

Meanwhile he believes that one deputy is unable to do anything against the rest deputies, as strong democratic fractions are to be created in the Parliament.

�I am ready to support Mr. Kazhegeldin until he infringes democratic principles. We are partners, but not allies,� Nurbulat Masanov affirmed.

The representative of RPPK agreed with Mrs. Bekturganova�s opinion regarding the shadow economy. In addition he said that the latter was born by the present regime and it is profitable for this regime as a good method to conceal money from taxation.

�We need accurate laws and toughening punishment, first of all for corruption crimes,� the third participant of the public debates announced.

If Edel Myrzhanov enters the Parliament, first of all he is going to initiate the reconsideration of the law on the budget.

�But before this, at the referendum the population should approve the economic program of the government, then in accordance with this program the state budget may be prepared,� he emphasised.

The self-nominated candidate supports the opinion of other representatives of the opposition that Kazakhstan is to become a Parliamentary republic. According to him, at the present �we are moving towards the dictatorship.�

The fourth participant of the debates emphasised that no law would work, if it did not comply with the main law of the state.

�Even the Constitution stipulates that regional Akims are to be elected, but our authorities concealed this. That is why many laws do not work,� Aralbek Adilov said.

Unlike his opponent, he is against of legalisation of the shadow economy. �I consider that shadow profits are to be returned to the state by force.�

P.S. On the next day it was known that Nurbulat Masanov and other four representatives of RPPK withdrew their candidatures from the coming election protesting against political prosecutions in respect to the party�s activists. (You may read the detailed information in article RPPK withdrew candidate)

Central Asia: OSCE Mission To Discuss Human Rights And Fair Elections

By Roland Eggleston

Vienna, 27 September

(RFE/RL)

A delegation from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe will visit all five Central Asian republics this week. RFE/RL correspondent Roland Eggleston reports from Vienna that the delegation will meet government and opposition leaders for discussions on human rights and fair election practices.

A top-level diplomatic delegation leaves tomorrow for Central Asia on a mission to discuss the five countries� progress in building democratic institutions. The mission was organized by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and is led by the OSCE chairman, Norwegian Foreign Minister Knut Vollebaek. The 19-member delegation also includes representatives of the UN High Commission for Human Rights and the European Commission.

The mission flies to Turkmenistan tomorrow and then continues to Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. An OSCE spokesman told RFE/RL that Vollebaek intended to speak �frankly and openly� about the problems some of these countries have in meeting their democratic commitments as members of the OSCE.

OSCE representatives declined to discuss specific problems in advance of the mission, but the organization has said previously that it is concerned about the fairness of elections in some countries. It is also worried about religious extremism and human rights abuses.

In Turkmenistan, questions are expected about the recent death in jail of an activist. International human rights groups have said the activist, Khoshali Garaev, was a political prisoner. Vollebaek will also hold separate talks with Turkmen President Saparmurad Niyazov and Parliament Chairman Sakhat Muratov. Last year, President Niyazov told a similar OSCE mission that it could take up to ten years to create the atmosphere for the full functioning of democratic institutions in Turkmenistan. Niyazov said OSCE standards of democracy could not simply be imposed, but had to be preceded by a change in the mentality of the people.

An important issue for the mission is the democratic conduct of presidential and parliamentary elections. The OSCE and other international organizations have held seminars and workshops in Central Asia on election processes. Seminars have covered topics such as legislation, the secrecy of the ballot, equal rights for all parties and candidates, and the role local monitors can play in ensuring that elections are honest.

All five countries have elections scheduled within the next few months. Parliamentary elections are scheduled before the end of the year in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, and in February in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Presidential elections are scheduled in Tajikistan in November and in Uzbekistan early in the new year.

Kazakhstan is having elections to its lower house in two weeks, and the OSCE has already expressed concerns about the treatment of some candidates. One opposition party leader, former premier Akezhan Kazhegeldin, was briefly arrested at Kazakhstan�s request earlier this month when he returned to Moscow from abroad. He has been accused of tax evasion and illegal possession of property, but he says the charges are politically motivated.

The OSCE was highly critical of the Kazakh presidential election in January this year, which returned President Nursultan Nazarbaev to power. The organization said the poll was deeply flawed and fell far short of OSCE standards.

An OSCE spokesman said the organization is not only concerned about Kazakhstan. He said other countries also fell short of democratic standards in regard to elections and the delegation would discuss the situation in all its meetings.

Another important issue for the mission is the concern felt in several Central Asian states about the spread of what is sometimes called �political Islam.� The mission will discuss the crisis in Kyrgyzstan, in which Islamic militants are holding hostages. There is also concern in Tajikistan about the ultimate goal of the Islamic Renaissance Party. And in Kazakhstan, President Nursultan Nazarbaev this month created a special commission to counter the threat of religious extremism. The OSCE has said it will ask Nazarbaev for more details about how the commission will operate.

The mission will also discuss the dangers that the illegal drug trade poses to regional security. Central Asia has become a major route for smuggling heroin and other drugs to Europe.

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