KAZAKHSTAN

Ex-candidate contemplates on�

�Communists will participate in the parliamentary elections!�

Serikbolsyn Abdildin

In the last issue we wrote about Gani Kasimov, ex-candidate in the last Presidential elections. We discussed his thoughts of today�s political situation and future prospects. His rival Serikbolsyn Abdildin, currently continues to teach at the Agricultural Academy and is getting ready for the forthcoming parliamentary elections. Mr. Abdildin, leader of the Communist Party, is unsure whether he will participate himself. But it is quite obvious that the Communist Party will vigorously try to infiltrate as many power structures as possible with its candidates.

The last fight for the Presidential post invigorated the Kazakhstani �Reds.� The party was able to change the public�s negative attitude to them, and has enjoyed a surge in popularity. This is evident by the fact that Serikbolsyn Abdildin won more ballots than other candidates in some regions. Now there are tens of people requesting applications to join the party. Party activists do not exclude the possibility of the rapid growth of the party because of the protest mood of the Kazakhstani people. As Serikbolsyn stated, �let it be anyone, if only life will improve.�

Serikbolsyn Abdildin willingly consented to be interviewed by a correspondent of The Globe.

i) Regarding the forthcoming parliamentary elections:

�I am against any ahead of schedule elections because they are always unfair. I am sure that the parliamentary elections, contrary to the Presidential ones, will be held in the pre-determined time. As you may recall, since Kazakhstan�s independence practically all elections were held ahead of schedule. The dissolutions of two parliaments were very advantageous for the administration. Once again, there are certain advantages for the administration in moving forward the time of the elections. The President needs a new compliant parliament and it shall happen.�

ii) Regarding new parties and movements:

�Since the parliament will once again be shaped according to party lists, a number of parties such as Tereshenko�s Otana have begun to reaffirm their loyalty to the President. These parties will enjoy the full support of the election system.�

iii) What is needed for fair elections?:

�A new law is needed, containing a new paragraph on the election system. The election system must become independent. Representatives of the registered parties and movements, candidates of factions, and party groups of the parliament itself must enter the TSENTRIZBEKOM. When the TSENTRIZBEKOM is formed, it must elect its chairman and deputy chairmen. The same way regional and district elections commissions ought to be formed. Moreover, we propose the introduction of a joint election system: first past the post and proportional representation. The system would allow for candidates to be elected according to both party lists and in the regions.�

iv) Concerning the government

�Gani Kasimov proposes �Down with the Government!� What could it change? Nothing! We must change the system of power, not just the government. The government could be changed many times without success. Only when the interests of power coincide with the interests of the people, will the matter be settled. Now, the authorities are not responsible to anyone and this predetermines their actions. Personal interests take precedence over public ones. Nobody worries about the state of affairs of agriculture because it is not profitable for those in power. Oil, energy, and non-ferrous metals, on the other hand, are very important to them, because it is in these spheres where their personal interests are deeply rooted. Now everyone wants to blame the miserable state of the economy on both the world economic downturn and the Russian crisis. However, the influence of these two factors is minimum. Our great trouble is the result of our own policies leading to the loss of the economic base. The irresponsibility of our authorities is the main cause of our failures. We cannot accomplish anything, until the whole system is changed.

v) Regarding the media:

�Today the media works far better than opposition and public movements. Sometimes the press is even more progressive than both the opposition and public movements. The Kazakhstani media is to some extent free, and can raise the right kind of issues about the country. Sometimes I feel that the public does not properly appreciate the contribution of the media. Surely the media ought to be more free and independent and critical of the authorities. But I must emphasize that the government largely ignores what issues raised by the media.�

vi) About the opposition:

�We don�t have representatives of the opposition in the branches of executive power and that explains everything. The lower level of the opposition is very weak. Lacking levers of influence, the opposition is unable to do anything.�

vii) Regarding the sequestered budget:

�In the autumn, when the budget was formed, the economic situation was clear. It was very easy for a professional government to form a more or less balanced budget. But the desire to play political games prevailed. The people will suffer from it.�

viii) Regarding the future:

�I will work in the higher educational institutes and participate in party affairs. I must note that I would much prefer the former. But I don�t want to be an outsider in politics. The Communist party affairs ought to be put in proper order. I am not satisfied with the current situation. We need new leaders. By the way, I was supposed to withdraw my candidacy for President on January 7, but I couldn�t do it. But if I would have done so, I would have deceived 170 000 people who backed by candidacy. I tried to do everything to unveil the true face of the regime. Now we have many people who want to join our party. We must work with them.�

Kulimkhan Khasenova, the correspondent

Report of assessment Mission of the Republic of Kazakstan Presidential Election

(Continued from

# 13(331), 14(332))

The CEC also published guidelines for the mass media on reporting about the candidates and the election. The guidelines stated that the state media was to refrain from giving preference to any candidate and that the journalists were to differentiate between the campaign of the incumbent and the coverage of his activity as the President. These guidelines were not followed and since they were not in the law, it was not clear if they could be enforced. The overall coverage of the election was poor.

The CEC monitored the media but only to look for violations of the law prohibiting certain ideas. These include advocating �ideas of a violent change of the constitutional system, violation of the territorial integrity of the Republic, undermining the State�s security, war, social, racial, national, religious, class and tribal superiority as well as the cult of cruelty and violence� [Art. 29 (1)]. The CEC did not look for violations of its guidelines stating that they would investigate these only if there was a complaint.

IV. Pre-Election Activities

F. Media Monitoring

The Needs Assessment Mission carried out monitoring of the media from 18 December 1998 to 8 January 1999. One radio station was monitored for nine hours a day; three television channels were monitored for twelve hours a day; and four newspapers were also monitored during this time period. The methodology was to measure quantity (i.e. time on air, space in newspapers) and quality (i.e. positive, negative or neutral).

Overall, it was clear that the incumbent received a large share of the coverage on political issues and most of it was positive or neutral. The other candidates received little coverage, and what they did receive was generally neutral or negative. Mr. Abdildin received a majority of the negative coverage. The overall time dedicated to politics was quite low. Political coverage included the election campaign as well as government activities. Television had two to six per cent of the time devoted to politics; radio had nine per cent; and newspapers had four to eight per cent. The only exception was the state newspaper, Kazakhstanskaya Pravda, which had 24% of its space devoted to political coverage. The following chart shows the coverage of the candidates during this time.

Time or Space (%) for Each Candidate

During the Total Time Dedicated to Politics

Journalists and editors claimed that coverage was low because the candidates did not provide information on their campaigns or there was very little to cover. The strong position of the incumbent in the media reflected both the weakness of the opponents and the constraints that led to self-censorship.

There is no provision for the right to respond to negative reports in the media.

V. Election Preparation

A. Training of Election Personnel

Training of commissions staff was carried out at each level by trainers from the commission at the next level in the system (i.e. the district commission trained the precinct commission). The emphasis was on current practice including changes to the law and procedures, the role of observers and the new ballot design.

The message about the election law and its importance did not get to the precinct commissions. The Central Election Commission spoke to the Mission about the importance of the changes to the law but their training programs did not get the message to the polling stations. It appeared that the precinct commissions carried on as they had previously done with no concern for new procedures. Commission members at every level expressed the opinion that they �knew what they were doing� and did not need training. There was little motivation to do a proper job, in most cases they stated that �they were doing it because they had to�.

Training methodology needs to be enhanced so that learning takes place during the training sessions. Those implementing the law at the polling stations do not understand the importance of having transparency of the process and of having uniformity of the procedures. A thorough manual for the polling station members would assist in interpreting the law for those in charge on election day. Many of the guidelines put out by the CEC did not seem to be transmitted to the various levels of the system. It may require a complete change of commission personnel to ensure that the law and the directives of the CEC are put into practice at the local level.

B. Voter Registration

Voter lists are drawn up in each precinct by the precinct election commission, based on residence in the precinct. Information is received from local administrative bodies (i.e. passport and registration tables). In some cases, the local administration prepares a draft list from the records to be checked. In most cases, the election commissions had staff go from door to door to check names and complete the list or to draw up the list anew. The list is updated regularly each quarter. There is no national database of voters, although with the recent addition of computers to the district and oblast commissions, there is potential for some movement toward establishing a database. This would assist in checking to ensure that double entries do not occur.

The voter lists are made available for public scrutiny at the precinct election commissions fifteen days before the election. Voters may check the lists for correctness and there is a procedure for appeal if the voters� request for correction is denied.

Names of people living, but not registered in the area, are added to an additional list. There is the possibility of double entry but the commissions claim that verification procedures prevent it. The numbers of persons registered (i.e. 18 and over) seemed to be low in comparison to the total population, just 54% (see Appendix B). Since the numbers of additional voters is not published, it was difficult to know how many names were on the voter lists.

C. Logistics

The logistics for the election were well planned and organised. The polling stations had sufficient signage and had their equipment and materials well before election day. In most cases the ballot papers were delivered on time, one week before election day, and stored in a safe with police protection. This was to allow for advance voting during the week leading up to election day.

The Central Election Commission makes the arrangements to print the ballot papers. The names of the candidates are in alphabetical order and are printed in Kazak and Russian. In areas where the numbers merit, plans were made to print the ballot papers in minority languages. In addition to the candidates� names, the ballot papers have a space to mark �I vote against all the candidates�.

(To be continued)