Reforms for Make Democratic Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan

Recent government reforms in Kazakhstan were supposed to make the country look increasingly democratic. The removal of term limits for Nazarbaev — a change the president claims to have been against (that’s what they always say…) — helped put in focus that the net result of the reforms is more power for the president, notwithstanding all the rhetoric about the inauguration of a new presidential-parliamentary system. Kazakhstan’s parliament has again shown that it is doing its level best to make sure that no one is confused as to whether or not the country is moving toward or away from democracy.

The parliament’s latest accomplishment is the barring of electoral blocs. It should come as no surprise that the passage of this law comes in the wake of the announcement that the Social Democratic Party and Naghyz Ak Zhol planned to form a bloc for early parliamentary elections anticipated for later this year. One of the goals of Nazarbaev’s proposed reforms was the strengthening of political parties. It would appear that cooperation with one another is not the kind of strength the reforms seek to encourage.

What I find particularly irksome about all of this is not that Kazakhstan’s government is behaving in an undemocratic manner so much as it is being so phony. Things are going fairly well in Kazakhstan, especially compared to the rest of Central Asia. In fact, Kazakhstan has had a pretty good claim to being something special — something a bit different in the region. But going after critics of the government and opposition parties with very little public support, especially when support for the government is high and the public could care less about politics, is the kind of paranoid dictator behavior one expects from the other members of fraternity of Central Asian presidents.

So, bravo to Kazakhstan’s president and parliament for gloriously dropping the ball, tarnishing the country’s image, and continuing to make Kazakhstan’s government an institutional mess.

For the latest bit of high drama in the court of Nazarbaev Khaghan’s, see here.

UPDATE: Anticipated early elections? They are definitely going to happen. Good thing the parliament took care of important last minute business before begging to be dismissed.

“We are requesting that a difficult, but historically important decision is made to dissolve the Majlis [lower house of parliament] and call early parliamentary elections,” lawmakers said in a statement. “This decision will speed up the pace of reforms in the country.”

“The current Majlis should not slow down reform,” lawmakers said.

Well, they certainly are right about being part of the problem…