Kazakh opposition goes underground
Justice ministry denied registration the movement set up by former prosecutor general

Ainur Khasenova, Almaty

The movement “For a Fair Kazakhstan”, which has united almost all opposition forces of Kazakhstan, intends to file a lawsuit against the Kazakh authorities. The Kazakh justice ministry has again denied the movement government registration.

“For second time in a row they have returned our documents and denied us registration on wire-drawn grounds. Last time, they returned our documents for one reason only: we wrote “funds” there while they insist that we should have written “money”. For that reason they have denied our movement registration. Though the law says that such minor corrections should be made within three days without any returning of documents or denial,” told leader of the movement Zharmakhan Tuyakbai the journalists.

Mr. Tuyakbai knows the required legal procedures at first hand as he is a well-known lawyer in Kazakhstan. For a long time he was the Kazakh prosecutor general, and from 1999 to 2004 he chaired Majilis, the Kazakh Parliament lower chamber.

After the last fall parliamentary elections, Mr. Tuyakbai denounced the election campaign and called it a “political farce.” Today he leads the united Kazakh opposition and is a potential rival of the incumbent president Nursultan Nazarbayev. Zharmakhan Tuyakbai has been elected the single opposition candidate to run for president at the forthcoming elections.

The movement “For a Fair Kazakhstan” intends to appeal the denial to a court of law. However, they do not hope very much to win the case, as everyone is sure that the opposition would lose.

Meanwhile, many used to pin great hopes on the movement “For a Fair Kazakhstan” and thought that the movement would consolidate and unite the opposition, as the group remained the last among the “discontent” that survived the government crackdown. The official Astana has been in the habit of eliminating political opponents, mostly by using force. For instance, the authorities closed down the opposition party “Democratic Choice for Kazakhstan” in early 2005 by a court ruling for an “anti-constitutional statement”. In one of its statements, the party called on the people to take acts of civil disobedience. Some time later yet another party split, the “Ak Zhol” (“Bright Path”.) The party has split into two camps (they say in the lobby that it was a preplanned “operation” of the President administration.) Everyone expects the first half of the party to shortly join the pro-presidential camp, while the other half, still the opposition one, hasn't been officially registered yet.

Furthermore, in recent months activists of the movement “For a Fair Kazakhstan” have faced attacks in various regions of the country where they hold their regional constituent conferences. Groups of the “politically active youth that defends the incumbent president” threw stones at the opposition politicians. In early May, they even smeared a restaurant in Chimkent (regional center in South-Kazakhstan Oblast.) As a result, some of participants in the regional conference were injured.

Opposition members are convinced that these are the interconnected events. “These are the links of one chain – the authorities will continue to crack down on dissenter public associations and parties to bar them from the forthcoming presidential election,” says Zharmakhan Tuyakbai.

Though the official date of the election hasn't been set yet and the debate on this issue continues, most experts concur that presidential election in Kazakhstan will take place in December 2005. Rumors from the Nazarbayev administration confirm this. Nursultan Nazarbayev hasn't been idle either: after he announced that intends to run for president for yet another time he has traveled two thirds of Kazakhstan's regions with working visits in recent months. In previous years regional issues were not really in the focus of the president's attention though.

Meanwhile opposition members are unable to start campaigning until the election date is officially announced. If the movement remains unregistered, the opposition forces would find it very difficult to participate in the race.

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