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In mild and sunny weather, Kazakhstan survived Sunday’s parliamentary elections. Here in January, the minus 15-degree weekend is considered hot, especially fortunate that the vote was wedged between two colds. That’s why not a foreign correspondent with eyes full of adrenaline spoke about the cold of minus 35 degrees, which is supposedly “so harsh that you don’t dare to leave the airport.” However, the wild Kazakh winter that will soon return will not affect the locals.
The second coldest capital in the world, Nur-Sultan, is used to heavy frosts, as the foreign press is more enthusiastic about the country’s democratic transition.
Presidential Republic of Kazakhstan, headed by Kazim-Zhomart Tokayev, who has held the post since 2019. The name of his predecessor, Nursultan Abisuli Nazarbayev, who led the country for almost thirty years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, may sound more familiar. According to the Kazakh constitution, the president appoints the head of government and they also have a parliament. Legislative powers are exercised by the 107-seat lower house, the Majlis, and the 47-member senate; Sunday’s election focused on the composition of these two bodies.
Kazakhstan is one of the least densely populated countries in the world, with only seven inhabitants per square kilometer. So there is also peace in the electoral college. It is true that we are in one of the countless and huge public buildings in the capital, it is easy for students to get lost in a “Palace of schoolchildren” that serves as a kind of community space. Also, due to the epidemic, special attention is paid to safety. One by one, after a thorough inspection, only people are allowed.
He throws himself into the fight of the press, hungry for the press eager for encouragement. Every ballot thrown at the ballot box is a minor sensation, we follow the security guard spraying the booths, cleaning faster and faster in the shame of a poor cleaning lady. To his loss, a little girl takes the photo and hands him her mother’s ballot.
The situation becomes quite surreal when, like other early voters, the family receives an iron as a gift.
The press is completely free of this: even after long minutes, I see in the circle of reporters the girl clutching an iron, which is finally carried on her lap by her parents from the polling station. Then comes the president, Kaszim-Zsomart Tokajev. Photographers cornered with tapes push the vote, shoving pretty reporters to the head of state at the press conference.
The issue, of course, is the situation of the opposition. Critics say that some NGOs were unable to form a party, thus unable to stand in the elections.
On Sunday an unannounced parade was held in some parts of the country, in response to a couple of people detained by the authorities. The press picked up the case about the protests in Belarus last year, but Tokalev said in response to questions: there are dissatisfied people in every country in the world, but in Kazakhstan the police will act strictly in accordance with the law.
In Nur-Sultan, however, there are no signs of conflict. Partly because Kazakhstan’s oil-rich economy is successful, and this is evident in the capital. The pandemic has affected the service sector, which provides more than 60 percent of jobs, but the industry continues to perform well. In the World Bank’s 2020 rankings, Kazakhstan’s economy ranked 25th out of 190 countries.
“After economic modernization, Kazakhstan has begun political relaxation”
– We are already talking about this with Urs Unkauff, a German election observer, because the vote was followed by local and international people on the spot. Unkauf, by the way, is almost a hobby of electoral observation, targeting countries such as Madagascar, the Democratic Republic of the Congo or Azerbaijan. According to him, Nur-Sultan seeks a balance between economic development, the well-being of the population and political freedom, and develops in the latter. To my question, he confirms that he found no irregularities in any of the polling stations.
After my enthusiastic German interview, we also spoke with another observer. The young Kazakh woman was delegated by an opposition organization to take notes in black lacquered knee-length boots, worn shirt and jeans. He doesn’t report the fraud, but I’m a bit ashamed of himself when he says that the overcast press is already starting to bother a bit.
(Cover Image: Buzna Viktor / Index)
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