KAZAKHSTAN - ROUND TABLE ON POLITICAL PARTY LEGISLATION

UNCLAS ASTANA 001225

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV KDEM PHUM PREL KZ

SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN - ROUND TABLE ON POLITICAL PARTY LEGISLATION


1. Summary: On July 1, the NDI and IRI organized a round-table on
Kazakhstan's political party law which also included broader
discussion of Kazakhstan's Madrid commitments. All the major
parties were represented, including the ruling Nur Otan party.
Several participants presented concrete proposals on how to amend
the current legislation to allow for easier party registration and
greater political participation for opposition parties. Many
expressed skepticism regarding the government's willingness to
fulfill the Madrid commitments. Nur Otan's representative claimed
that draft amendments to the political party law were already in the
works. End Summary.


2. On July 1, the DCM attended an NDI/IRI-organized roundtable on
Kazakhstan's political party law. The event brought together
high-level representatives from major opposition parties, including
Azat's Peter Svoik and Bulat Abishev, the un-registered Alga party's
Vladimir Kozlov, OSDP's Serikbai Alibaev, Az Zhol's Burikhan
Nurmukhamedov, the Communist Party's Serikbolsyn Abdildin, and
Adilet's Tulegen Sadykov. Nur Otan was represented by a mid-level
legal advisor, Yuri Subchenkov. The roundtable included NGOs, OSCE
representatives, and members of several diplomatic missions.
British Ambassador to Kazakhstan Paul Brummell and a British MP in
Astana for the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly session were both in
attendance at the event.


3. The majority of the participants agreed that Kazakhstan's
political party legislation needs to be reformed. Azat, OSDP, and
Adilet suggested several concrete legislative amendments, including
requiring only 5,000 signatures to set up a party, as opposed to the
current 50,000. They also suggested lowering the threshold for
getting into the Mazhilis from 7 percent to 5 percent. (Note: The
threshold is set by the election law, not by the political party
law. End Note.) Alga's Kozlov added that the current rules make it
easy for the government to suspend or refuse a party's registration.
(Note: Alga's registration has been pending for almost two years.
End Note.) Several speakers criticized the lack of transparency and
objectivity in the Central Election Commission and called for reform
of the local election commissions. Not surprisingly, the discussion
was laden with criticism of the ruling Nur Otan party, specifically
for allegedly being too heavily involved in government policies,
meddling with the opposition media, and interfering with freedom of
assembly.


4. Speaking more broadly, Azat's Svoik expressed skepticism that
Kazakhstan's 2010 OSCE chairmanship will bring significant changes
in terms of democratic reform. He characterized Foreign Minister
Tazhin's speech at Madrid as "mere words" meant to placate the
international community and predicted that the government will not
go further than making "cosmetic changes" to the legislation it
committed to amend. The Communist Party's Abdildin said the parties
must demand that the government fulfill its Madrid commitments, and
Alga's Kozlov added that the government must issue a schedule of
implementation. Several participants said that concrete legislative
improvements to the political party law will only be made if the
opposition parties are included in the working group tasked to work
on it. (Note: The round-table's final resolution, released on July
3, included these demands, as well as a call on the OSCE to require
fulfillment of the Madrid obligations. End Note.)


5. As the sole representative of the ruling Nur Otan party in
attendance, Sabchenkov sounded a different note from the rest of the
participants. Referring to Nazarbayev's June 29 speech to the OSCE
Parliamentary Assembly session in Astana (in which for the first
time, Nazarbayev publicly discussed the Madrid commitments),
Sabchenkov said that Nazarbayev has already tasked the government
with amending the party legislation. A new draft law was in the
works, he claimed. (Note: In a separate conversation, Deputy
Minister of Justice Dulat Kustavletov informed us that while a
working group on the political party law has not yet been convened,
new draft legislation will be ready before the end of the year. End
Note.) Sabchenkov also contended that registration issues faced by
some parties were the result of incompetence and corruption among
low-level government workers, and not a concerted campaign on the
part of Nur Otan to block unwanted competition. His statements were
met by open skepticism from the opposition.


6. Comment: Many of the proposals on amending the political party
law that were put forward at the roundtable are well-known to the
government. Several had previously been made by NGOs and opposition
parties, including the idea of requiring fewer signatures for
registration. End Comment.

ORDWAY