In the article «When Tokayev Wins, Nazarbayev Loses», we conclude that the process of delimitating the images of «the Leader of the Nation» and his successor has begun in Kazakhstan. And, as part of this process that is associated with creating new political myths, Akorda’s new top figure is securing the reputation of «a good guy» (even in the eyes of the protest-oriented citizens) whereas the main resident of «the Library» is progressively gaining the image of «a bad guy».
Continuing on the subject, we would like to underscore that Kasym-Zhomart Tokayev and his allies have a real opportunity to noticeably strengthen the positioning of the second President as a reformer without either waiting for the next elections or making the already announced changes in Kazakhstan’s legislature on political parties and meetings.
Let us remind you that, speaking at the second session of the National Council of Public Trust (NCPT) that took place on December 20, 2019, in Astana, Kasym-Zhomart Tokayev stated, among other things, that Kazakhstan needs the institution of parliamentary opposition. And in order to build one, they need nothing except Akorda’s political decision (even though it has to be approved, one way or another, by «the Library»).
The thing is that, today, the Mazhilis (Lower House) of the Kazakh Parliament includes the deputies from three political parties: the so to speak ruling Nur Otan, the Communist People’s Party of Kazakhstan (KPPK) and the Ak Zhol Democratic Party of Kazakhstan. With that, the second one, from the moment of its creation in 2004, and the third one, from its last reorganization in 2011, have been positioning them themselves as opposition. To confirm our thesis, let us present you several extended citations from their party programs.
For instance, the KPPK program includes the following (almost revolutionary, in our opinion) stipulations (text in bold hereinafter by kz.expert).
«Our goals:
— the strengthening the role of the state and the state property in the country’s economy, the development of all forms of property, of small and medium-size businesses, of the cooperation among workers;
— the people’s control of the authorities on all levels;
— the rule of the people (the rule of the workpeople) and self-government;
— the creation of social conditions for ensuring social justice and the guaranteed labor opportunities, a fair assessment of the work done by each member of the society and the assessment of the social importance of a person according their place and labor input into the socio-economic, political and scientific development of Kazakhstan;
— the fit labor renumeration, the equality of political rights and freedoms of the citizens, free education and healthcare, attention to family — the foundation of a society, to children, veterans and the socially-vulnerable demographics;
— patriotism, respect towards history and culture, the traditions of the country, the equality and development of the peoples and languages, the unity of the people of Kazakhstan;
— the responsibility of a citizen to the society and vice versa, the unity of the rights and the responsibilities of a person;
— socialism that is built on the basis of scientific discoveries and progressive practices that correspond to the contemporary level of the productive forces, the high quality of life of the population and the conditions for a person’s development;
— communism as a historic future of the humankind, the truly humanistic society.
We, the communists, believe that the theory and practice of building a socialist society cater to the needs of all the citizens by ensuring personal freedom of choice for the comprehensive development and the full self-realization».
The program of the Democratic Party of Kazakhstan does not have as same definability as the program of the Communists and, to put it mildly, is a little too complex for an unprepared reader. Nonetheless, it contains the following stipulations:
«The main goal of the Ak Zhol Democratic Party is creating the necessary conditions for a free development of each citizens, for respecting their rights and freedoms, for a progressive improvement of the quality and the level of life of all Kazakhs as well as for the achievement of an economic, social and political progress of the Kazakh society and the state.
Our party is a successor of the Alash National Liberation Movement that had laid the fundamental basis for the building of the national statehood and set as its goal the modernization of the Kazakh society via the European way, on the basis of combining the national interests with the best achievements of the world civilization. Alash’s basic values that include national independence, productive market economy, the equality of the ethnic groups and religions continue to serve as our guiding landmarks.
The Ak Zhol Party promotes and protects the national interests, directs its activities towards assisting the society and the state in their achieving a higher level of development, defends its spiritual and material values. The national interests must rest on the respect for the state and the people, the language, the culture and the traditions of the Kazakh and other ethnic groups of the country, the recognition of the sanctity of our territory and the constitutional order, the economic nationalism in the use of the natural resources and the industrial potential of Kazakhstan.
The social anchorage of the Ak Zhol Party is the successful and independent middle class in which the local intelligentsia and entrepreneurs constitute its main body. They do not expect any charities from the state but show initiative in the use of the opportunities they create for themselves and build their lives by creating the spiritual and material goods and increasing their personal and general welfare. The representatives of the middle class — proprietors and managers, engineers and legal professionals, doctors and teachers — participate in the creation of the national welfare in all the sectors of the economy, the intellectual and the social spheres».
The Ak Zhol Democratic Party believes that its historic mission is to assist the national businessmen, the technological and artistic communities in growing into the class of proprietors, manages and intellectuals capable of setting the most topical tasks for further social development and of finding effective solutions for how to implement them.
Having reached a certain level of economic development, we cannot achieve new qualitative changes without the necessary adjustments in the society and politics.
In view of this, the Ak Zhol Democratic Party believes that, based on the level of Kazakhstan’s socio-economic welfare, our society is now ready for a new reformatory paradigm that relies on the socio-economic modernization and extends its processes onto the spheres of political and state-building.
This paradigm may be tied to strengthening the statehood, reinforcing the principles of the parliamentary system, ensuring transparency and accountability of the government, expanding the business and civic liberties including freedom of speech and freedom of association.
Sharing the responsibility for preserving the political and economic stability in the country, the Ak Zhol Party is open to an equitable dialogue with all the constructive social forces in order to accomplish the aforementioned tasks».
Today, the Communist People’s Party of Kazakhstan and the Ak Zhol Democratic Party of Kazakhstan serve as the classic satellite parties controlled by Akorda and carrying out its political will. At the most, they are allowed to pushback on unimportant issues.
However, this can be changed. For that to happen, it is enough if Akorda:
1) sanctions a more harsh, open and hard-hitting criticism of the authorities and individual officials including Kasym-Zhomart Tokayev himself;
2) significantly increases the back-door financing of the parties, primarily through the business that is dependent on the authorities;
3) allows the parties’ media and internet-resources to pursue a more aggressive and, therefore, attractive to the citizens information policy;
4) allows to raise internal political stinks capable of attracting attention of a significant part of the citizens;
5) and perhaps, to a certain extent, renews the parties’ top-management as well as the composition of their parliamentary factions via using the legislative mechanisms.
If Akorda, with «the Library» blessing, dares to take such steps, the parliamentary opposition in Kazakhstan may appear much sooner than new political parties obtain the state registration and the maslikhats and Mashilis elections are held.
Of course, this opposition will not be real but — you never know! — after all both the CPPK and Ak Zhol, theoretically speaking, may change if their leadership is cardinally renewed and the parties themselves manage to drift out of the control of the authorities or find themselves under the control of say Akorda but beyond the control of «the Library». Then these two parties will become a true opposition to Nur Otan and its irreplaceable leader Nursultan Nazarbayev. It’s better than nothing, isn’t it?
