Haven’t posted in a while because I took a trip to Mongolia last week. Of course nothing casts a pall on travel plans like political protest that ends with the burning of the leading political party’s building and sacking of the nearby Culture Palace. Assured by my friend in Ulaan Baatar and by various Mongolian blogs that the protests were a one-time deal and that the streets were safe I went ahead and got on the plane anyway.
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Among the amendments and laws discussed in Parliament this week, the most interesting and entertaining was a proposal by member of Parliament Sat Tokpakbayev to rename the capital city to Nursultan in honor of the President, Nursultan Nazarbayev, and his role in not only running the nation but also building the city of Astana and promoting it to the world. 70% of members of Parliament apparently supported the idea.

However the President is against the change, or any renaming of the capital in his lifetime. He personally chose the name “Astana” as legend has it because it is easy to say in any language. “Astana” means ‘capital’ in Kazakh. According to the AFP, however Nazarbayev was not necessarily against a future name change. “The decision to change the name will be made by another generation,” he said in an interview on Friday.

This is not the first time someone has suggested renaming the capital in honor of the President and one does not an awful lot of buildings and organizations with the prefix “Nur”, which means ’sunbeams’ in Kazakh.

Some of the comments on the proposal from nomad.su are worth noting. One commentator points out that it will be unbelievably expensive to change every document, map and sign that has the word Astana on it. Another woman notes that she is tired of living in a country where names constantly change and is ashamed that her Parliament seems to do nothing but rename things. Finally one commentator proposes renaming a resort on Lake Kapshagai Sat, in honor of the Parliament member who made the proposal.

According to Freedom House’s Freedom of the Press 2008 survey, Kazakhstan’s press in 2007 was only slightly less free than in 2006. Out of a scale of 100, Kazakhstan recieved a 78, where 100 represents total government control over the media and 0 represents total freedom. In 2006, the country scored 76. Overall the report characterized Kazakhstan’s press as Not Free.

In terms of the legal environment, Kazakhstan scored 26 (out of 33) and the draft report cited problems with the law on media outlets which make it expensive to register a media outlet and establish a long list of grounds for denying registration. Journalists also continue to be subject to harassment by criminal or civil lawsuits according to the report.

Political influence on the press was rated as 30 out of 33. Freedom House says that a large percentage of the media is owned or controlled by the state and/or members of the President’s family. Newspapers that report on allegations of criminal behavior by government officials are routinely shut down or fined heavily. In 2007, a number of opposition websites were shut down when they played recordings of phone calls that appeared to implicate government officials and businessmen of violations of financial laws.

The extent to which economic pressure is brought to bear on the press was ranked 22 out of 33.

At the same time that this report was released, a 5 week block on RFE/RL’s Kazakh language website was lifted. The reasons for the block were unclear. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is a US government funded news service.

The block may have been lifted after Miklos Haraszti, OSCE representative on media freedom, sent a formal letter to the Kazakh government:

I am convinced that the state Internet service providers were informed by your government that interference in providing service would violate Kazakhstan’s press freedom commitments.’ He adds that OSCE’s Permanent Council Decision No. 633, states that participating states must pledge ‘to take action to ensure that the Internet remains an open and public forum for freedom of opinion and expression.

Thanks to Central Asia for bringing all of this to my attention.

Thanks to Net News Publisher for bringing this to my attention.

However as a resident of Astana it was hard to miss the fact that the newly inaugurated Russian President, Dmitri Medvedev, was recently here. Roads were blocked off, Russian flags were hanging from hotels and planted outside Bayterek. Black Mercedes and Land Cruisers with government plates were to be found everywhere.

It is however significant that not only did the President’s visit inconvenience residents, it also marked the importance of Russia-Kazakhstan relations. The RFE/RL article points out that Putin’s first State visit as President was to Uzbekistan. Now Kazakhstan has become the main regional power with a stable society, a stronger economy, and more international respect and prestige. Kazakhstan also has more economic and political ties with Russia, partially due to geography and partially due to its large Russian population.

It should also be noted that Medvedev’s choice to visit Kazakhstan (and to make a visit so soon after his inauguration) reflects an interest in Central Asia over Europe or the US or other Asian nations. Recently Russia, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan in particular, have negotiated quite a bit over oil distribution and pricing. Medvedev clearly is interested in continuing this cooperation and seeing these deals come to fruition. His visit is a signal that Kazakhstan is very much a priority in his foreign policy.

Of course, the President will likely not bother to come to the US until after January 19th, when his new counterpart will be inaugurated–President Bush is a lame duck and there’s not much point in continuing negotiations especially as Bush and Putin recently signed a memorandum of sorts laying out where the US and Russia agree and where they disagree.

So it is notable, but not surprising that Medvedev took a chance to climb Bayterek first.

As Parliament debates a new law “On Religion”, Forum 18 reports on religious leaders’ complaints. Most religious leaders were hesitant to speak publicly, in itself a sign that the atmosphere in Kazakhstan is not as tolerant as the government often claims. However, Lutheran Bishop Yuri Novgorodov, whose church has 52 congregations in Kazakhstan characterized the law as “a Law on Non-Freedom of Conscience.”

Among its controversial articles, the law currently in the drafting stage, would require all religious organizations to reregister meaning that even religious organizations fully registered at this time and in full compliance of all laws would have to go back through the registration process. It would mean that 1) all religious organizations would become illegal until they reregister and it would also allow the law to have retroactive force. In other words, a religious organizatio fully established in Kazakhstan which didn’t meet new requirements would have to pack up and leave.

The draft law would allow registration for religious groups which “conduct divine services, religious rituals and preaching and other religious ceremonies”, meaning that the government is defining what is legitimate religion and what it not . Religious leaders have taken offense to this provision of the law. Some have pointed out that Buddhists, who do not necessarily meet this description, could have issues in registering. Any religion or sect that spurns religious ritual or preaching or collective services in favor of individual meditation will likely have issues registering.

Religious organizations will also be required to submit a description of:

“basics of their faith”, the history of the faith as a whole and the particular community, as well as their attitude to marriage, the family, education, the health of their adherents and their attitude to their adherents’ civil obligations. It remains unclear why this information is needed, how much information is required on each point or who will decide whether information supplied is acceptable or not.

For many this requirement is highly intrusive. It can also lead to an ungainly registration process as Muslims, Christians and Jews may need several hundred pages to fully explain the history of their faith, let along the fundamentals.

Furthermore the law allows the state to conduct expert evaluations of religious groups. The experts may be state officials, lawyers, or members of other religious groups. Religious groups can be denied registration or have their registration cancelled on the basis of these inspections.

These requirements appear to be put in place to weed out groups with anti-social beliefs such as sects that believe in violent overthrow of the government, or isolation from society, polygamy, child marriage. However the registration requirements are formulated in such a way that the burden of proof seems to fall on the religious organizations–all religions are guilty until proven innocent.

Further provisions of the law severely restrict the rights of religious organizations to collect donations, print or distribute literature, proselytize, or even organize centrally. The latter issue is likely to create problems for main stream Christian churches which are traditionally organized on the basis of local parishes or dioceses which in turn are part of larger regional dioceses.

The new law, which amends the current law “On Religion” was approved as open for consideration in Parliament on 2 April. Prime Minister Karim Massimov has given his approval to the Draft Law.

The current law is unpopular for its ban on unregistered religious activity, a provision that led to the fining and expulsion of a Norwegian and a Japanese missionary from the Christian Brothers Church this week. No other criminal charges or complaints were laid against the two missionaries. The Baptist Church has also been long entrenched in court cases with the Kazakhstan government due to the Church’s belief that registration with government organizations is “absolute intrusion into the inner life of believers”, in the words of one believer. The draft law does nothing to amend the registration requirement.

Azat (formerly Nagyz Ak Zhol) announced this week a plan to resolve the financial crisis.

The opposition party highlighted the crisis as resulting in a decline in industries unrelated to oil and mining, a stagnant retail market, a decrease in real income for 70% of the population, and causing issues in tax collection. They have called for the Prime Minister, Karim Masimov, to step down due to his “incompetence”.

They also called for the end of unnecessary expenses. The president made a similar request in his Address to the People of Kazakhstan earlier this year. However, the opposition includes construction of prestige projects in Astana on its list, as well as special military organizations. They say this will lead to $2 billion in savings which can be put into salaries and pensions. Another $7 billion they suggest should be taken from the National Oil Fund (which was created to be used in the case of financial crises but as yet has not been touched) and put into the economy.

The government should also pay for renovation of infrastructure, repairs of apartment buildings and highway construction, according to Azat. At the moment much of that work is done by government contract to private companies. However PPP (Public-Private Partnerships) have plagued the government for years because there is no clear understanding of what it means. The Prime Minister recently called for a brainstorming session on this topic.

Finally the opposition party called for the National Bank to cancel its requirements for commerical banks to hold reserves equal to their credit, so that more loans and credit can be accessed by the people.

For a mostly negative review of this plan, see Adam Kesher’s post on Neweurasia.

According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, Dariga Nazarbayeva hired private consultants to collect information about the Kazakhgate trial. One of the companies she controls, World Media Corporation, hired private consultants to investigate the case, in which the Justice Department alleges that businessman James Giffen bribed President Nazarbayev with a total of $84 million in order to gain access to Kazakhstan’s oil supplies for US oil companies. Giffen has claimed that he did provide bribes at the request of the CIA. The government of Kazakhstan has not contested the claim and has publicly ignored it.

GlobalOptions Management was hired by Ms. Nazarbayeva to collect information. Their report includes financial details and names of key witnesses. GlobalOptions apparently did not violate any laws because it did not seek to influence the outcome or collect classified or secret information. However, if this report, which was apparently viewed by members of the Kazakhstan government, fell into the wrong hands one wonders what damage it could do.

We may well find out. Rakhat Aliyev, former husband of Dariga Nazarbayeva and recently convicted in-absentia of plotting to violently overthrow the government, apparently has the report now. He has not been shy about posting what he claims are phone calls between high government officials and businessmen on the web. One wonders what he plans to do with this document. Sean Roberts has a few speculations and I can’t think of anything to add to his list.

According to various foreign news services, Richard Hoagland has been nominated by President Bush to replace John Ordway as Ambassador to Kazakhstan. Hoagland is currently serving in the U.S. Embassy to Turkmenistan and was Ambassador to Tajikistan.

Hoagland was nominated as Ambassador to Armenia last year but his nomination was withdrawn in relation to questions of the US acknowledgment of the Armenian Genocide. The then-Ambassador to Armenia was withdrawn when he gave a speech regarding the genocide and Hoagland’s nomination was stalled and then withdrawn while the Senate debated whether to publically acknowledge the genocide or not.

Ordway has been Ambassador since 2004.

Askar Mamin, akim of Astana, will become the head of Kazakhstan Temir Zholi, after the present head was detained by police for corruption. Zhaksybek Kulekeyev is suspected of taking a bribe in the amount of US$100 000 and rumor has it that he was caught by undercover police in a sting operation.

The new akim of Astana will likely be Imangali Tasmagambetov, currently akim of Almaty and widely popular. He was also considered an enemy by Rakhat Aliyev. Some have claimed that Tasmagambetov is the most likely person to become President after Nazarbayev due to his popularity and ability.

The Minister of Agriculture, Akhmetzhan Yessimov, will likely be appointed akim of Almaty. It is still not clear who would become Minister of Agriculture.

This just in: Nazarbayev will run the first leg of the torch relay. Hopefully that won’t mean that they shut down the route to people who want to watch, which they sometimes do when cool people are involved in things.

EDIT: The official route and who is carrying the torch is up. The President doesn’t appear to be on the list. And to answer the question in the comments, I think that occasionally Presidents or high government officials might be there to greet the torch at the airport–as I believe the akim was at Almaty airport last night–but they don’t usually carry it.

EDIT THE SECOND: Nazarbayev did carry the torch. As did the Chinese Ambassador and Rosa Rizimbayeva. Cool.