ALMATY, June 28
(THE GLOBE)
�For the last month three our application for holding meetings were groundlessly rejected by the city�s authorities,� the secretary of the Central Committee (CC) of Communist Party of Kazakhstan announced at the press conference in Almaty.
According to Madel Ismailov, these meetings were mainly devoted to the problems of social protection of the city�s population, election campaign of the President of RK, momentous dates and other events.
Mr. Ismailov considers that the city Akimat having given no arguments permitted to hold these meetings only in the suburbs of Almaty, but this did not satisfy communists.
The regional committee of Communist Party of Kazakhstan will persuade on places for their meetings not in the edge of the city, where it is difficult for many participators to come, but in the centre of the city, in the Old Square.
�To my personal appeals to the Akimat on infringements of the Constitution of RK regarding freedom of holding meetings and demonstrations, I received the groundless rejection,� Madel Ismailov stated.
The secretary of CC of Communist Party of Kazakhstan said that at present the regional committee of the party was going to appeal directly to Mr. Khrapunov, the Akim of Almaty. Then, if required, they will appeal to the court with a claim about illegal actions of the city�s Akimat, infringements of the population�s rights and liberties provided by the Constitution of RK. But, he assumed that under the current situation Communist Party of RK did not hope for a positive resolution on this case.
Erkanat ABENI
ALMATY, June 28 (THE GLOBE)
�Non-payments for supplied services make presence and further activity of our company questionable,� the general director of �Karaganda-Power� announced on June 28 in Almaty.
According to Ilan Ben-Gigi, for the heating season of 1998-1999 the population payments for heat was 40% of the total amount, and for electricity � only 30%. The main cash inflow is received from the population, as juridical persons more often repay with inter-settlements. The general director considers that �Karaganda Power� has no other alternative than to increase the collection of payments, and to disconnect non-payers from heat and electricity.
Mr. Ben-Gigi said that the civilised functioning of the enterprise is prevented by imperfection of legislation (the main defect of this legislation is that electricity and heat are interpreted as a service, while they are products). �It is impossible to purchase a product without payment,� the director of the Israel company emphasised. He added that purchase of fuel, chemical reagents, workers� salary, etc. should be covered by payments. But payments are insufficient. That is why in the beginning of March and in May there was a critical situation with fuel at HES �3 (Heat-Electric Station). In March 1999 this situation made us disconnect some living houses from heat and to disconnect the town from electricity in a fan way. According to Ilan Ben-Gigi, the low level of payments is the only problem preventing from receiving of the next credit from European Bank of Reconstruction and Development, as one of the obligatory conditions is to increase percentage of the collected payments. The absence of this money fetters �Karaganda Power� in major repairs and preparation of the departments for the heating season 1999-2000.
�When two years ago the company began to work in Karaganda, the power branch of this city was in fact a bankrupt. Even such a giant as �Karagandaenergo� could not repay great debts. As a result, in January 1997 the city was actually frozen due to the accidents at HES-3, when crude cold water was used in the system,� Mr. Ben-Gigi stated.
Thirty million dollars were invested by �Karaganda Power� to the power complex of the city: 120 km of pipes were replaced by new ones; the new equipment for the main heat-and-power artery of HES-3 was purchased, the annual debt towards salary in main departments was repaid, the director of the company emphasised.
�The state has liquidated all privileges of military men, having thrown us overboard. That is the principle: if you want to life, you will learn to swim in ...,� my occasional interlocutor was outraged.
Late evening. Two persons stood at the bus stop. The hope that a trolley bus would come died last. One man moderately asked another for a cigarette. Both smoked.
- I did not smoke since this morning. My wife tries to minimise expenses. She does not give money for cigarettes. Where can she take money? She works as a doctor, her salary is only four thousand. It is a shame to ask for cigarettes, his tone was apologetic.
- Don�t you work?
- I am a military man, he says as if he is ashamed of this word, now I am on unpaid vacation.
Thus my interview with the senior lieutenant, who served in the army for 15 years, began.
�Before my vacations were paid. I went somewhere to spend my leave with my family. Now I received nothing. I received only salary for April. Recently my salary was 15000 tenge. Now I receive 8000. But dollar�s rate is increasing. Judge yourself, who will stay to defend our motherland for this money?� my interlocutor was sincere while we were going by foot having lost the hope to wait for a trolley bus.
�Besides, they abandoned a privilege to use city transport free of charge. I cannot go by transport extra time. Now we are going by foot almost through the entire city, but I an glad that I did not spend 15 tenge.�
I recalled how my father who worked for a long time at VOHAAF (Voluntary Organisation of Help to Army, Aviation and Fleet) wished me to be an officer. Consequently, he brought me up in a military way. How my father was anxious, when later I was not permitted to take part in exams at the military school due to bad health. Now looking at this officer, I understand how I was lucky that I did not enter that school.
�My daughter has finished the second class. We have no money to send her somewhere for this summer. She has to sit a home along. It is offensively, that I strove for something all my life, but now nobody likes officers. Who can like us, if we are getting poor?� my traveller companion asked.
According to him, now many officers cannot withstand this situation and leave the army. Most of them work as guards. They have salary of US$ 150. It is possible to live on such a salary. My interlocutor said that he also was thinking to work as a guard.
�But they employ through personal connections,� the senior lieutenant believes. �It is a pity to leave the army. On one hand I have to maintain my family, one the other hand soon I am supposed to receive a captain. Then it will be close to the general.�
Erkanat ABENI
From the editorial staff: we propose you two materials of the Kazakh service �Radio Liberty� broadcasting in Kazakh language. The journalist was provoked to create both materials by publications in Kazakh in one of the local two-language newspapers. The Russian-speaking community often does not know what is said by the Kazakh mass media. But the independent Kazakh mass media, including the Kazakh service �Radio Liberty� discuss the most urgent problems.
Nazarbaev and Kazhegeldin: is it possible to conclude a trice?
Both internal and external policies of Kazakhstan are in a deadlock. The economic crisis and indifference of the international community makes the population�s condition worse. The present government takes measures, but despite this the life standard of common people is getting lower. Unemployment, inflation and prices are growing every day. But salaries and pensions are the same. For example, personnel of the Academy of Sciences and Kazakh radio receive about 4000 tenge. Medical workers and teachers receive approximately the same amount. Average pension is about 3000 tenge. The number of unemployed will soon come to 1.5 million people.
Many people are trying to find a way out of this situation: from the Mazhilis speaker Marat Ospanov who proposed his economic program, to a common citizen. For example, one of the Kazakhstan citizens believes that the main thing is the co-operation of the ex-Prime Minister Kazhegeldin and the President Nazarbaev. Many people think so. The famous satirist Gabbas Kabyshuly considers the article �Unite, Nursultan and Akezhan!� by Seitkerim Kozhanazarov (�21st century�, # 22) as a shout of the majority of people, believing that this is a way-out of poverty* . Another our compatriot Zhumagul Al-Tarazi expressed his agreement with this point of view: �If they (Kazhegeldin and Nazarbaev � THE GLOBE) think about people, they should unite and work for the good of the state and its citizens.� This opinion initiates many questions: will Kazhegeldin and Nazarbaev be able to unite? What will be the use of the their co-operation for the people?
We will try to answer to these questions. First, the difference between the ex-Prime Minister and the present President is 13 years, which of them is able to stretch a hand for a trice? Nazarbaev has been ruling Kazakhstan for fifteen years. When Nazarbaev was the first secretary of the Central Committee of Communist Party of Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, Kazhegeldin was only a secretary of the regional executive committee in Semipalatinsk region. Nazarbaev invited him to the post of one of the deputies of the Prime Minister, then he appointed Kazhegeldin the Prime Minister. Having lifted Kazhegeldin to the pedestal of power, Nazarbaev himself dismissed him.
If Kazhegeldin will be the first who stretches his hand, will Nazarbaev support him? Will the President recognise him as equal to himself? While the state mass media state that there is no politician or leader equal to him (Nazarbaev � THE GLOBE), will he think about co-operation with Kazhegeldin? The latter cannot return to the motherland due to accusations of the tax policy. Now Kazhegeldin is in the position of a political refugee. May the ex-Prime Minister be the first who will call for a trice in this situation?
There is a great distance between these two leaders. This circumstance can hardly lead to co-operation and friendly relations. To say frankly, their fight is the fight for power, to be more accurate � for the President�s post. If Kazhegeldin rejected this fight, possibly, Nazarbaev would invite him to any post.
Does Kazhegeldin need this? He himself announced several times: �During my works as the Prime Minister I was not completely free. Many things I did according to a demand. Now I don�t want to be appointed again. I will work for the state if I am elected by the population.�
It is known that we have the only similar post, the President�s post. All the rest, for example, deputies, are appointed. Due to this reason the trice between Nazarbaev and Kazhegeldin seems to be impossible.
Even if the latter is appointed the Prime Minister, will anything change? Will the population�s life improve?
The authoritarian system has so deeply penetrated into all spheres of our life, that sometimes the Prime Minister can decide nothing himself. The power is concentrated in the hands of the President and his close people. Many large industrial enterprises are managed by separate persons, some of them � by the President�s relatives. What can the Prime Minister do under these circumstances?
That is why it is difficult to say, whether a trice between Kazhegeldin and Nazarbaev will give some positive results. Now the situation in Kazakhstan is different.
26.06.99
* The following circumstances seems to be interesting enough: �21st century� is Kazhegeldin�s newspaper, thus we may see the shout of his soul in this article.
Besides, taking the opportunity, I want to attract the Reader�s attention to the quality of analytical material prepared under governing of Mr. Kazhegeldin. The situation with the Kazakhstan mass media was recently �analyzed� in his Web-site. In particular, in this �analysis� THE GLOBE was referred to the group of TuranAlembank. This serious conclusion is based, most probably, by the relative connections of the chief editor of THE GLOBE with Mr. M. Ablyazov, the head of Astana-Holding system.
I want to attract attention of analysts of Mr. Kazhegeldin to the fact that recently my daughter married to a citizen of the USA. This may be the basis to refer THE GLOBE, for example, to FBI organisation. (By the way, I have two more daughters and a son).
Is it required to think about nationalities of our wives or about other relatives when we are designing logical and serious models of the development?� N.A.
For about 20 years ago Abish Kekilbaev works in the high ranks of the authorities. He started in 1980-s, when he worked as an instructor in the Cultural Department of Communist Party of Kazakhstan. From that time he worked in different posts. He was the chief of the sector, then the editor of �Socialistic Kazakhstan� newspaper, then he worked in the President�s administration. In 1994 he was elected the chairman of the Supreme Soviet (SS). When SS was dismissed, for some time Abish Kekilbaev did not work anywhere, then he was again appointed to the post of the State Secretary in the President�s administration. From that time he is one of those people who completely support the President�s policy.
First of all, Abish Kekilbaev became known to the wide circle of people as a writer. The community was especially excited by his story �Kui�. Many other writings of Abish Kekilbaev revealed his talent. Then he wrote several multi-volume novels, which were not successful. After this he lost his popularity among his readers.
People, who knew the writer, were dispirited by his actions during the dismissal of SS in 1995. When the government trying to disperse deputies, applied to force methods, Abish Kekilbaev was one of the firsts who was outraged with these actions, but then he retreated. At that time his colleagues tried to oppose. One more leader, Olzhas Suleimenov who once talked about establishment of people�s Parliament also gave up. Having lost their leaders deputies were taken out from the SS building with the help of the police.
Thus, the authority of Kekilbaev who could not defend his Parliament was lost.
When in some time he was appointed the state secretary it was the only explanation of the behaviour of the ex-speaker of SS.
At present, Kekilbaev who finally is supporting the government is distant from the people and is just a state functionary.
Despite this, till recent time he was not criticised at all.
The silence was broken by �21st century� newspaper (#24), where the reader disagrees with the political views of the state secretary and is against of them. The reason of this article was the recent interview at �Kazakhstan-1� TV-channel, where Kekilbaev announced the following: �Recently there are a lot of people who criticise the government, but everybody admits that all of us without any exception are guilty in the present crisis.�
The reader was outraged that the authorities including Kekilbaev were trying to blame the people for their own mistakes and for today�s difficult situation. The reader considers that thus they wish to escape from the responsibility. The statement of Zamanbek Nurkadilov at �Khabar� regarding the abandoned privileges of unemployed, where he explains that these unemployment have cattle and land sites, also provoked the reader�s indignation.
�If unemployed (whom there are more than 1 million in Kazakhstan) lost their grants, how they will live?� he asks and continues: �That was said by the ex-deputy who knows well the people�s needs and has become rich thanks to people�s money.�
Once Abish Kekilbaev and Zamanbek Nurkadilov were one of those people whom the population trusted. But, we see that they did not justify this trust. Instead of to think about people�s needs, they support the policy of the forceless government, it has become a standard behaviour for them. All this provokes outrage of the population.
26,06,99
All Over the Globe is published by IPA House.
© 1998 IPA House. All Rights Reserved.