January 2011

Kazakhstan’s Constitutional Referendum: Western Questions, Kazakh Answers

31 Jan

Events and opinions

2960

Kazakhstan’s Constitutional Referendum: Western Questions, Kazakh Answers

Weighing the option to prolong President Nursultan Nazarbayev's term to 2020 by referendum, Kazakhstan's governing elite has engaged in an unprecedented open debate. The process is of a far broad... read more..

31 Jan

Events and opinions

2648

Washington Presses Astana on Bid to Extend President’s Rule – But Is Anyone Listening?

The United States has again pressed Kazakhstan over a bid to dispense with presidential elections for the next decade – but are its words falling on deaf ears? As Kazakh Foreign Minister Kanat Sa... read more..

31 Jan

Events and opinions

2596

Kazakh leader says ready to stay in power

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev on Friday said he was ready to work for as long as required as his country is expected to hold a referendum on whether to extend his term until 2020. "I am r... read more..

Egyptian Activists' Action Plan: Translated

31 Jan

Events and opinions

3137

Egyptian Activists' Action Plan: Translated

Egyptian activists have been circulating a kind of primer to Friday's planned protest. We were sent the plan by two separate sources and have decided to publish excerpts here, with translations into ... read more..

29 Jan

Events and opinions

2883

Taking a Stand in Kazakstan

Journalist who led demo against referendum allowing president to avoid elections says even small-scale protest has symbolic value. As soon as plans were announced for a referendum on extending th... read more..

26 Jan

Events and opinions

2789

Kazakhstan: FM to Get Warm Washington Welcome Despite Democracy Concerns?

You might imagine that Astana would want to keep off the world stage amid the international outcry over an ongoing bid to extend the rule of Kazakhstan's Leader of the Nation. But fresh from stee... read more..

24 Jan

Events and opinions

2880

Turkmen leader says open to rival political parties

* President backs law to allow new parties * New parties unlikely to threaten closed regime * Economic steps not matched by political reform President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, who leads read more..

18 Jan

Events and opinions

2714

Kazakh MPs back referendum to extend leader's rule

ASTANA (Reuters) - Kazakhstan's parliament on Friday approved a referendum to extend President Nursultan Nazarbayev's term for a third decade, clearing the way for the veteran leader of Central Asia's... read more..

13 Jan

Events and opinions

2811

Beijing's Stealthy Expansion In Central Asia

Among the great powers vying for influence in post-Soviet Central Asia, China has been the quietest, most systematic, and most dangerous. With its booming economy, growing population, and relentless n... read more..

13 Jan

Events and opinions

2782

Millions back campaign to skip Kazakh election

ASTANA (Reuters) - More than half of Kazakhstan's 9 million voters have backed a referendum to extend veteran leader Nursultan Nazarbayev's rule of the oil-rich Central Asian state for a third decade,... read more..

Burial of democracy in Kazakhstan. Police seize pro-democracy protesters.

12 Jan

Events and opinions

2722

Burial of democracy in Kazakhstan. Police seize pro-democracy protesters.

Pro-democracy protesters have been seized in Kazakhstan, as a campaign to keep Nursultan Nazarbayev, the president, in power for another decade without elections claimed the support of more than half ... read more..

Kazakh president likely to back call to scrap election and stay in power

12 Jan

Events and opinions

2730

Kazakh president likely to back call to scrap election and stay in power

Kazakhstan's president is preparing to back a move to cancel elections in the oil-rich former Soviet Republic until 2020, his chief spokesperson said on Tuesday, confirming that the self-styled citize... read more..

11 Jan

Events and opinions

2936

Kazakhstan's benevolent father: Long live the khan!

THE workings of Kazakhstan's political machine are regrettably now rather familiar. An obscure group of concerned citizens gathers in a distant corner of the country and there, for the good of the nat... read more..

05 Jan

Events and opinions

2715

U.S. says Kazakh referendum is setback for democracy

ALMATY (Reuters) - The United States on Tuesday condemned Kazakhstan's move to extend the rule of veteran leader Nursultan Nazarbayev to 2020, bypassing a 2012 election, and said this would be a blow ... read more..

Kazakh parliament backs president ruling to 2020

05 Jan

Events and opinions

2867

Kazakh parliament backs president ruling to 2020

ASTANA — The Kazakh parliament Wednesday backed a controversial plan for a referendum to extend the mandate of strongman President Nursultan Nazarbayev to 2020 and skip two presidential elections. ... read more..

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