The following elections report was presented on background to Pacific Council delegates last month, prior to their Country Dialogue visit to Central Asia.
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Since the mid-1990s, the Organization for Security & Cooperation in Europe’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) has had an active role in the election process in former Communist countries. Soon after the March 20 parliamentary elections in Kazakhstan, OSCE’s preliminary statement of its findings states that "although the election was efficiently organized, with some progress noted, Kazakhstan still has a considerable way to go in meeting its OSCE commitments."

International observers posted at many dozens of polling stations throughout the country reported serious procedural errors and other irregularities during voting, counting, and tabulation. Specifically, election monitors noted indications of ballot box stuffing, a large number of names added to voter lists on election day, and group and proxy voting. Reportedly, even opposition political party representatives sometimes looked the other way in the face of abuses, thereby lending a hand in supporting the president’s party candidates. Such abuses of the process indicate President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s determination to continue stifling political opposition and an independent media.

In power since the country’s independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Mr. Nazarbayev remains popular among most Kazakhs. His focus on economic progress has been considered successful, as are his efforts to preserve inter-ethnic stability, although such stability has been promoted, say his opposition, by suppressing dissent. In all his presidential elections, his share of the vote reached well over 90 percent, and his political party, Nur Olan (Ray of Light of the Fatherland, so named in honor of Mr. Nazarbayev) holds an overwhelming majority of seats in the Kazakh assembly. The March parliamentary election ensures Nur Olan’s dominance in national politics for some time to come.

Such abuses of the process indicate President Nursultan Nazarbayev's determination to continue stifling political opposition and an independent media.

Mr. Nazarbayev’s efforts to maintain the country’s economic dominance among Central Asia nations after the Soviet Union’s breakup is, of course, welcomed by most Kazakhs. In recent months, however, the country’s reliance on its oil is proving to be problematic as oil prices drift downward. Since the currency has fallen by half since last summer, Mr. Nazarbayev has attempted to stem what level of dissent there is by raising pensions and public sector employees’ salaries. He is now 76 years old, with no apparent successor in sight. And there is no guarantee he can control future elections.

Perhaps, in its final report about this latest election, OSCE’s recommendations will be helpful as political party leaders contemplate what to do next.
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Ms. Caroleen Williams is a Pacific Council member, a former Foreign Service officer and senior congressional staffer, and has served as an OSCE election observer in Russia, Kosovo, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Albania, Macedonia, Kyrgyzstan, and Ukraine. She has also worked in Slovakia, advising non-government organizations (NGOs) and media representatives; in Croatia, monitoring the government’s adherence to the Dayton Peace Accords; and in Kosovo, building political parties and NGOs.