KAZAKH LEADER MADE A STATEMENT ON RUSSO-BELARUS UNION.
Yesterday, February 16, after visiting Kazkommertzbank in Almaty, Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev held press conference and told journalists that Kazakhstan would never join any Unions within CIS any more, including the Russo-Belarus Union. President Nazarbayev said that Kazakhstan had tried to become a member of several Unions, such as Customs Union, Central Asian Union and others, but no one of them had brought any advantage to Kazakhstan.
Organizations uniting ethnic Slavs of Kazakhstan, some of the Kazakh Communists and Russian Cossacks had held a number of mass gatherings this month demanding Kazakh government to hold referendum on possible joining of Kazakhstan to the Russo-Belarus Union established last month. Leaders of Alash party held a session at the Teachers House of the former Kazakh capital on Wednesday, where they expressed their protest to the demands put forward by the ethnic Slavs of Kazakhstan. According to Alash party leaders, the idea about Kazakhstan�s joining to Russo-Belarus Union might lead to elimination of the Kazakh country and statehood.
President Nursultan Nazarbayev also told journalists that the Oblast and regional governors would not start being elected by the local population in the nearest future. According to the Kazakh leader, it is too early to start elect the regional governors of Kazakhstan, since the regions depend upon the state treasury and are not able to �feed themselves�. Although President Nazarbayev said that village and smaller region�s akims (governors) would be elected by the local voters very soon. All other governors will continue to be appointed directly by President himself.
TRIAL OF MR. KAZHEGELDIN�S FORMER BODY GUARDS TO BE HELD AFTER MARCH 7.
Amirzhan Qosanov - Vice Chairman of the Kazakh Republican People Party�s Executive Committee told journalists on February 16, that three former body guards of the former Kazakh Premier Akezhan Kazhegeldin were moved from the Kazakh National Security Committee�s jail to that of Almaty City Interior Affairs Department recently. The three officers, Ruchkin, Afanasenko and Ibrayev are accused by Kazakh authorities of illegal weapons possessing. Amirzhan Qosanov told journalists that all the �illegal weapons� consisted of some rifles, pistols and other personal guns given to Akezhan Kazhegeldin as gifts by Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev , former Defense Minister Sagadat Nurmaghambetov, Interior Minister Qayirbek Suleymenov and some foreign officials during Mr. Kazhegeldin�s being Kazakh Prime Minister. Akezhan Kazhegeldin returned all of the weapons to Kazakh presidential Guard when he stopped being Kazakh Premier in the end of 1997, - said Mr. Qosanov. According to him, the weapons� sudden appearance in a village called Priyamoy Put� last year might have been organized by Kazakh secret services themselves. The investigations on the case are expected to be over by March 7 this year.
FIRST STAGE OF KAZAKH-UZBEK TALKS ON BORDER ISSUE ENDED IN TASHKENT.
Correspondents of RFE/RL in Almaty quote local mass media as reporting that the first stage of the Kazakh-Uzbek talks on the border delimitation had been accomplished in the Uzbek capital - Tashkent this week. Kazakh delegation led by Vice Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan Adil Akhmet discussed the issues connected to the demarcation of the Kazakh-Uzbek border. The maps, official and historical documents to be used during the further negotiations on the matter were defined by the both sides in Tashkent reportedly. The second stage of the talks will be held in one of the Kazakh cities in the nearest future.
OSCE DELEGATION MET KAZAKH OFFICIALS IN ASTANA.
Delegation of OSCE led by Igor Ostash (spelling?) visited Astana - the capital yesterday, February 16. Chairman of the Kazakh Parliament�s Lower Chamber (Mazhilis) - Zharmakhan Tuyaqbayev shared the experience of the Kazakh Parliament with the OSCE delegation members. Parliament deputies Isakhan Alimzhanov, Serik Abdrakhmanov and Valerian Zemliyanov harshly criticized the Parliamentary elections held in Kazakhstan last October in their conversation with the OSCE delegation. According to them, the numerous violations of both Kazakh laws and international standards had taken place during the Parliamentary elections in Kazakhstan. Serik Abdrakhmanov noted out that local governors intervened the election process and influenced heavily the outcome of the poll. OSCE and U.S. State Department had made statements with the same critical remarks earlier in November and December.
Feb 17 (Radio �Liberty�)
Daniel FERRO
ASTANA, Feb 16
(THE GLOBE)
On last Wednesday the OSCE delegation headed by the Vice-President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Igor Ostash held a number of meetings with Kazakhstani parliamentarians.
At the meeting with Senate Speaker Oralbai Abdykarimov and the Mazhilis Speaker Zharmakhan Tuyakbaev, Ostash announced that in May 2000 they planned to conduct �a round table� with political parties, movements, representatives of the Central Election Commission (CEC) and other state bodies.
At the �round table� they will discuss the election legislation and the country�s electoral system. By that time the OSCE would prepare recommendations regarding the Kazakhstan electoral system, Ostash stated.
Kazakhstan will submit analytical data on the results of the Parliamentary election held in autumn 1999. The working group consisting of CEC members, representatives of other state bodies, as well as of political parties and movements, will prepare these documents.
Ostash said that the OSCE Parliamentary session would be held in July in Bucharest. Apart from other issues, they plan to discuss the Kazakhstani electoral system there.
On April 12 to 13 the OSCE seminar devoted to the condition of national minorities in different regions of the world, will be held in Antalia.
Ostash invited Kazakhstani parliamentarians to participate in this seminar.
Meeting with mazhilismen, OSCE spokesmen wondered what their estimation of the Parliamentary election in Kazakhstan was.
The parliamentarian Serik Abdrakhmanov said it was necessary to restrain interference by the executive power in the polling process. He supported the idea of Akims� appointment by election.
The parliamentarian Isakhan Alimzhanov said that �practically all Kazakhstani media are supervised by a narrow group of people.� In the result, only political parties and movements that �sympathize with this group� have access to media.
Alimzhanov also stated that at present 5 parliamentarians were going to create a faction representing the Communist Party. However, the legislation current in force, he said, does not allow them to do this, as not less than 10 parliamentarians have the right to establish a faction or a group.
On Wednesday the OSCE delegation met the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Yerlan Idrisov.
ALMATY, Feb 16
(��z ��G)
In the evening, February 16, in the Almaty President�s residence Nursultan Nazarbaev was handed �Man of the century� diploma and medal.
Along with other our outstanding compatriots, N. Nazarbaev was granted the title �Man of the century� for his globally important national and public activity, reformatory role in the Kazakhstan�s development, as well as for guarantee of friendship and concord of all nationalities, improving international cooperation with other countries. The Public Council took this decision unanimously. The Council was established by the Abylai-Khan International Fund, the Kazakhstani Society on Preservation of Historical Monuments and Culture, and Altyn Adam Fund.
The President expressed his sincere gratitude to founders and initiators of the public events �Man of the Millenium� and �Man of the century� for appreciating his activity.
Askar DARIMBET
ALMATY, Feb 17
(THE GLOBE)
Recently a number of Russian and Cossack organizations called for Kazakhstan�s joining the Russian-Byelorussian union. Member of the Akmola Communist Party oblast committee participated in the Astana meeting. On Thursday the communist leader explained, �the issue regarding the country�s entering this union is to be seriously considered, first of all, from the point of view of Kazakhstan�s sovereignty.�
Abdildin is for the renewed union in the CIS geopolitical space. He announced that the republic could not live isolated. But Kazakhstan should not play a role of �an outcast,� he thinks. As one of the argument for the union Serikbolsyn Abdildin mentioned weak and small Army of Kazakhstan.
�However, the opinion that Kazakhstan cannot develop its economy independently is at least preconceived. We have sufficient financial and manpower resources. To improve the economy we should stop robbing, and shift to a just production and division relations,� the leader of renewed communists added.
Abdildin considers the Akims, courts and other powerful structures� appointment by election one of the most important issues. He emphasized that that was the only way-out from the present situation.
�Possibility of destabilization of the Kazakhstani society is growing,� Serikbolsyn Abdildin stated.
The communist leader said that none of the presidential programs had been realized, and nobody was responsible for that. He emphasized that the Communist Party had repeatedly offered how to cope with the crisis, but the regime avoided a dialogue.
�Nevertheless, we follow decisions taken by the authorities and realization of our proposals, though the authorities do not refer to the party,� Abdildin said.
He thinks one of these proposals to be the national status of the transport complex and cooperation and concentration of the agricultural production. Abdildin especially emphasized his appeal to the President where he had proposed to amnesty people committed economic crimes. In his opinion, Nazarbaev declared it in his recent statement on a possible amnesty of capital exported for last 9 years (THE GLOBE #11(492)).
Aidar AKHMETOV
ALMATY, Feb 15
(THE GLOBE)
Kazakhstan is going to enter the World Trade Organization, but to do this it is necessary to meet all TRIPS requirements.
�Every third audio and video cassette is piratical in Kazakhstan,� Uazhan Dostursun, the President of the Kazakhstani Association of Producers and Users of phonograms and audio & video products, said to reporters on Tuesday, February 16. He stated that net profit of pirates came to 400%. In fact, the possibility to answer for this infringement is zero.
According to the official spokesman of the Minister of Justice, in CIS countries piratical products comes to 70% of the total number of all audio and video cassettes. For example, in the U.S.A. this index is 10%. Foreign experts consider Kazakhstan as one of the most unfavorable countries in this regard. In Kazakhstan piratical audio and video products come to about 95% (80% in Russia).
Most part of all cassettes are made in China. Dostursun said that annually China produced 100 million piratical cassettes.
In the U.S.A. the FBI investigates infringements of intellectual property rights, which annually replenish the national budget with US$ 100 million. In fact, in Kazakhstan no criminal cases were instituted on the above-mentioned facts.
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