Kazakh 'Democrats' want to join the EU

The request comes from Ak Žol, a party included in the governing majority. They call for free elections, an independent and fair judiciary, and parliamentary democracy. Kazakhstan and Europe already have an expanded partnership. The Union is Astana's first trading partner and its primary investor.

Moscow (AsiaNews) - Kazakhstan's democratic party Ak Žol (Bright Path) is proposing that its country apply to join the European Union. The announcement came at its 21st congress.

Founded in 2002, the formation wants to relaunch itself in the upcoming parliamentary elections. Leader Azat Peruašev intends to "put Kazakhstan on the path of European development, European approaches to relations between society and the state, European standards of quality of life."

Peruašev draws on the statements of Alikhan Bokejkhan, the founder in 1917 of the Alaš liberation movement, which united Kazakh and Kyrgyz intelligentsija to establish a liberal state after Russian tsarist rule, later liquidated by the Bolsheviks in 1920.

He stated that "we see our future in connection with the best achievements of the Western states." As examples of "achievements," Kazakhstan's democrats cite free elections, including with electronic systems, an independent and fair judiciary, as well as parliamentary democracy.

Ak Žol has decided to stand for elections next March 19, identifying during the congress 54 people who will be included in the lists. Among them are business representatives from various regions of the country, as well as former deputies of the Mažilis (Parliament) such as Peruašev himself, Dania Espaeva, Berik Djusembinov, Erlan Barlybaev, Kazybek Isa, Maksat Ramankulov, and Serik Erubaev.

The party has been electing its representatives since 2012, after initial attempts began in 2004, and has a substantial membership of about 200,000 across Kazakhstan.

In the last election in 2021 it had won 12 seats, as the third largest party after the ruling Nur Otan party founded by former President Nazarbaev and the Kazakhstan People's Party.

Now Ak Žol members, who participate in the governing majority, are confident that they are particularly effective in interpreting President Tokaev's own oft-repeated slogan: "The liberalization of social structures," starting precisely with electoral mechanisms.

The oppositions, moreover, believe that the authorities presiding over political contention leave room only for parties loyal with the ruling regime.

In last year's presidential election, the Ministry of Justice rejected all attempts by the "Alga, Kazakhstan!" party, which intended to unite the oppositions and had submitted thousands of signatures of supporters, deemed "not matching" the formal requirements for registration.

Indeed, to date, elections in Kazakhstan, including Tokaev's most recent re-election, have never been approved by independent observers as "free and fair." Yet Kazakhstan and the EU have been partners since the early years of the republic's independence.

In December 2015, Brussels and Astana signed an agreement on expanded partnership and cooperation, the first such pact between Europeans and a Central Asian state. It covers all areas, from justice to internal affairs, economy and finance, energy and transport, environment and climate change, employment and social policies to scientific research.

The European Union is Kazakhstan's top trading partner, attracting more than 40 percent of exports, and is the top investor in the country. the Ak Žol party is the least aligned with presidential power, and is also called the "parliamentary opposition."

Its support for Tokaev's policies will depend on whether it is actually willing to reform the country in the dramatic and contradictory circumstances of Russia's war with Ukraine and Europe itself.