Kazakhstan's Democratic Forces Forum |
Kazakh
Press Monitoring. Voice of Democracy THE HAPPY DICTATOR -- Nursultan Nazarbayev is happy to be the powerful dictator with a powerless puppet parliament, and he has no interest in seeing Kazakhstan adopt a parliamentary system of government. He told a meeting of editors of pro-government media outlets that he opposes the proposal by the opposition Forum of Democratic Forces of Kazakhstan to replace the presidency with a strong prime minister and parliament, according to Interfax. http://www.interfax-news.com/, http://www.rferl.org/bd/ka/ -- President Nazarbayev has warned businessmen and bankers who disagree with his policies "not to meddle in politics" but concentrate on "opening new enterprises, creating jobs," Interfax reported. If you are sympathetic to the Democratic Choice for Kazakhstan, keep your opinions to yourself, he told them. http://www.interfax-news.com/, http://www.rferl.org/bd/ka/ THE POWER COUPLE -- Kazakhstan's political and business elites may only account for 2 per cent of the country's population but they are running the country and "there is no organized opposition to this system at the moment," charged Petr Svoik, leader of the opposition Azamat (Citizen) Party. Writing in the Kazakh Megapolis newspaper, he said the two are so intertwined it can be difficult to distinguish or separate them. The alliance has made them -- along with their families and partners -- rich and powerful in a country where "no other classes or even social strata" can be heard, he added. http://news.bbc.co.uk/ -- Kazakh Foreign Minister Qasymzhomart Toqaev told Bush administration officials earlier this month that his country is still interested in construction of the US-preferred Baku-Ceyhan oil pipeline, BUT... it won't commit itself until a feasibility study is completed. Meanwhile, the Nazarbayev regime has repeatedly stated its preference for an Iranian route strongly opposed by Washington. http://www.itar-tass.com/ STALINIST THROWBACK -- The pro-Nazarbayev media have refused to cover the emergence of the opposition movement Forum of Democratic Forces of Kazakhstan (FDSK), according to four sympathetic members of Parliament. They also criticized Nazarbayev's orders to the Prosecutor General to indict anyone who criticizes the dictator and his family, calling it a throwback to the Stalinist era. http://www.forumkz.org --- This material is distributed by Kazakhstan 21st Century Foundation. Additional information is available at the Department of Justice, Washington, D.C.
For the full stories, see the web citations above or contact us at News@kazakhstan21.org. The Kazakhstan 21st Century Foundation promotes democracy and human rights in Kazakhstan through public affairs and educational programs in the United States and Europe. *** Bloomfield Associates, Inc. *** |
|