External pressure grows on Kazakhstani elections
Russia and the United States are the main movers. Real parliamentary opposition is unlikely to emerge. Moscow claims rights over Russian-speaking regions in northern Kazakhstan. Ethnic hostility actually favours the stability of Tokaev's power.
Moscow (AsiaNews) - With only a few days to go before the general and local elections in Kazakhstan, many are still hoping that a real parliamentary opposition will emerge in Astana, able to open a new democratic phase in the life of the Central Asian country.
At the same time, the international media observe strong pressure from Moscow, which is intervening to the point of 'fuelling hatred towards the Kazakhs in the ethnic Russian population', as political scientist Akhas Tažutov writes in Eurasia Rewiew.
The Kremlin finances many publications that combat Kazakh nationalism, although during the recent visit of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Kazakhstan, Kazakh Foreign Minister Tleuberdi assured that "we do not perceive any risk from Russia at the moment, our country continues its multi-vector foreign policy".
Tažutov points out that these phrases were also reported in the Russian press as a sign of "full Kazakh support for Moscow's policy" and as a warning to the US not to interfere in Astana's affairs.
It is no coincidence, the political scientist notes, that both US and Chinese representatives, when they visit Kazakhstan, emphasise the "defence of territorial integrity", which is evidently in danger due to tensions with Russia, which does not spare continuous "informational attacks and territorial claims, spiced with misrepresentations of history".
Tažukov cites a recent publication by the Russian linguist Aleksandr Grišenko, from Moscow University, who basically wants to remind ethnic Russians, and other peoples in the post-Soviet states, how negatively the Kazakhs were presented in the ancient times of migrations and conflicts between Eurasian ethnic groups: thus how much of a treacherous people they still are.
In the magazine Ural Weekly, a short time ago, an article came out with Russian voices from the northern regions of Kazakhstan, according to which the areas of Uralsk, Petropavlovsk and Pavlodar 'should be returned to Russia', and should not be left to the 'Kazakh apes'.
Expressions of ethnic hostility actually favour the stability of Tokaev's power, to leave no room for divisions in such a controversial period. However, the opponents hope to achieve much more than in the past, when the 'fringe' parties were only left with crumbs.
Humanitarian activist Sergej Duvanov believes that there is a plan by the authorities to limit the influence of non-governmental parties even more by exploiting the complex calculations of uninominal seats. In his opinion, 'despite a certain euphoria these days, the election results will show that nothing has changed in the political arena since the days of Nazarbayev'.
Expressions of ethnic hostility actually favour the stability of Tokaev's power, leaving no room for divisions in such a controversial period. However, the opponents hope to achieve much more than in the past, when the 'fringe' parties were only left with the crumbs.
Humanitarian activist Sergej Duvanov believes that there is a plan by the authorities to limit the influence of non-governmental parties even more by exploiting the complex calculations of uninominal seats. In his opinion, 'despite a certain euphoria these days, the election results will show that nothing has changed in the political arena since the days of Nazarbayev'.
The Diplomat highlights the restrictions on internet access, which puts Kazakhstan next to Turkmenistan as the least 'connected' country in the world. According to independent journalists Rustam Mukhametov and Dana Buralkieva, the use of the web in these countries is quite distinct between 'business and society', and depends very much on the value that elites assign to internet connections in politics and economics.
The internet is restricted and blocked mainly in regions and cities where popular protests take place, as happened in Žanaozen in 2011, in the 2014 anti-devaluation marches in various cities, and the 2020 pogroms in the Kordajsk region between Kazakhs and Dungans.
At the government meeting on 13 March, Tokaev insisted that 'destabilising actions will not be allowed, we will do everything to avoid them, and we will not leave room for those who spread hatred inside and outside Kazakhstan'.
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28/12/2022 08:44
04/02/2022 10:06
