KAZAKHSTAN: A LITTLE PRE-ELECTION SPIN

UNCLAS ASTANA 001991

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

SCA/CEN FOR O'MARA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV OSCE KZ
SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN: A LITTLE PRE-ELECTION SPIN


1. (SBU) Summary: During the July 13-14 nodel visit of
Congresswoman Shelley Berkley, the GOK highlighted its
preparations for the August parliamentary elections,
arranging two separate trips for her to local polling
stations. Domestic media coverage was extensive, and
pro-government media outlets emphasized Congresswoman
Berkley's most flattering comments on Kazakhstan's democratic
development and election preparations. Kazakhstan's
arrangements for the visit appear to be part of a larger
pre-election public relations push. End Summary.

Congressman Berkley Shown to the Polls (Twice)
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2. (U) Congressman Shelley Berkley of Nevada visited Almaty
on January 13-14. The Congresswoman traveled to Kazakhstan
at the invitation of the United Jewish Congress of Kazakhstan
and on the recommendation of State Secretary Kanat
Saudabayev, the former Kazakhstan Ambassador to the United
States. Her main purpose for the trip was to support Mark
Seidenfeld, a jailed constituent. Seidenfeld was found not
guilty of embezzlement after spending eighteen months in jail
prior to the verdict.


3. (U) During her two days in Almaty, Berkley (accompanied by
Charge) met with State Secretary Saudabayev, the Almaty
Oblast Akim, the Almaty Vice-Akim, and representatives of the
Assembly of Peoples of Kazakhstan. She also visited a local
synagogue and the Kazakhstani Jewish Community Center.
Because she missed a connecting flight to Kazakhstan,
Congressman Berkley's schedule was truncated and a meeting
with Senate Speaker Kasymzhomart Tokayev canceled.


4. (SBU) In addition, her Kazakhstani hosts organized two
separate trips to polling stations, one a modern poll in
Almaty with electronic voting equipment, the other a
traditional ballot box poll on the outskirts of the city. On
her July 14th visit to a suburban polling station, she was
greeted by the Akim of the Almaty Oblast, at least 75 invited
guests, and a host of media. The polling facility was
decorated with banners and various instructions on how to
submit paper ballots. Following several rounds of picture
taking and welcoming speeches, Representative Berkley held an
impromptu news conference. Although most of the questions
pertained to her impressions of Kazakhstan, when she stated
"according to the U.S. Embassy, relations between the U.S.
and Kazakhstan are strong and point to a fruitful future,"
sustained spontaneous applause broke out.


5. (U) Berkley's visit received extensive domestic press
coverage. The four national television stations, the Almaty
and Astana municipal stations, and two cable channels devoted
4-5 minutes of their evening primetime news broadcasts to her
visit. Three of the country's four daily newspapers managed
to file stories for their Saturday editions. All stations
reported that the purpose of her visit was to observe the
preparations for the Mazhilis elections. The official
television stations highlighted Berkley's comments made at a
polling station, where she said (translated from Russian
transcript) "I am convinced that the system of electronic
voting is simple, transparent, and elicits confidence that
the vote will be counted correctly." The newspapers,
official and pro-government, reported her positive assessment
of Kazakhstan's political and economic reforms. She was not
asked one question about the Seidenfeld trial during any of
her press events.

Kazakhstan's Embassies Active
--------------


6. (SBU) Kjetil Hestad, Security Advisor for the OSCE/ODIHR
election monitoring mission, told Poloff that when he applied
for a visa to Kazakhstan in Oslo, Kazakhstan's Ambassador met
with him for ninety minutes to discuss Kazakhstan's progress,
how Kazakhstan is trying to do the "right thing" in the
elections, and how CIS countries suffer from a double
standard in the OSCE. During the meeting, the Ambassador
presented Hestad with several small gifts, including a
leather-bound book on Kazakhstan filled with pictures of
President Nazarbayev meeting foreign dignitaries. According
to Hestad, some of his OSCE colleagues from other European
countries had similar experiences. In Washington, Ambassador
Idrissov sent a letter to "friends of Kazakhstan" in the
United States soliciting volunteers for the OSCE observer
mission through the U.S. quota. He wrote that "a personal
knowledge of Kazakhstan and the understanding of building new
institutions and political culture in a young society are
important to be an objective observer."


7. (SBU) Comment: With the international community keenly
interested in the conduct of the Mazhilis' elections,
Kazakhstan's public relations efforts are not a surprise.
Despite its public relations efforts, however, the GOK
remains aware that there will be a serious, substantive
evaluation of its election related conduct, and thus far has
been cooperative with the ODIHR election observation mission.
In a July 20 meeting with Charge, Lubomir Kopaj, the head of
the OSCE/ODIHR election observation mission, said that he has
been pleased with his team's reception from the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs and the Central Election Committee, and he
believes that the mission is on track thus far for an
effective evaluation of the election. These early reports of
cooperation and transparency signal that the ODIHR election
observation mission will be allowed to do its job, and will
be able to distinguish "spin" from reality. End Comment
MILAS