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-- Kazakh president signs office-for-life amendments
Kazakh president signs office-for-life amendments
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| Kazakh president signs office-for-life amendments By Maria Golovnina ALMATY (Reuters) - Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev has signed constitutional amendments allowing him to stay in office for life, a move the opposition condemned as an attempt to set up a personality cult. The move was certain to alarm the West which has criticized the oil-rich nation on the Caspian Sea for not showing enough commitment to democratic change, but Nazarbayev's supporters said it would ensure stability and investment continuity. The Central Asian state's parliament voted overwhelmingly last week to allow Nazarbayev, in power since 1989, to run again for the presidency and stay in office for an unlimited number of terms. Reuters Pictures Editors Choice: Best pictures from the last 24 hours. View Slideshow In a constitutional article saying the president is elected for two terms, the amendments, published in the Kazakhstan Pravda newspaper on Tuesday, said: "This limitation does not apply to the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan." The nation's fragmented opposition denounced the move as undemocratic. Kazakhstan has never held elections judged free and fair by international monitors. "There are certain elements of Nazarbayev's (personality) cult in this," said Aidos Sarimov of the opposition-linked Altynbek Sarsenbaiuly think tank. "Nazarbayev wants to show that 'I am still here, ... I am still the boss here." The move was also likely to put a question mark over Kazakhstan's bid to take over the rotating chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in 2009. azarbayev, 66, whose current term expires in 2012, has not said when or whether he plans to stand aside or who might succeed him in the nation bordering Russia and China. His allies have said prolonging Nazarbayev's term would help the country ensure stability in the otherwise volatile Central Asian region. One top official said it would "only be a blessing for our nation, for our young independent state." But the move was all but certain to disappoint those in his entourage who have put their bets on replacing him, and hushed all talk about Nazarbayev preparing to pick a successor. The opposition has long accused him and his family of tightening their grip over most aspects of life in the former Soviet nation, from key government posts to industry. Reuters Pictures Most media do not criticize Nazarbayev and the opposition movement is weak. Two opposition leaders were killed in mysterious circumstances in late 2005 and early 2006. Nazarbayev's critics called the murders politically motivated. The amendments included a number of constitutional changes the government has praised as a step towards democracy. That included raising the number of parliamentary deputies, cutting presidential terms to 5 years from 7 and allowing parliament to play a bigger role in picking the prime minister. |
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| US sees Kazakh reforms as step "in right direction" By Sue Pleming WASHINGTON, May 22 (Reuters) - The United States said on Tuesday it saw amendments to Kazakhstan's constitution as a move in the right direction even though the oil-rich nation's president is now allowed to remain in office for life. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said many other political reforms were in the amendments aside from letting President Nursultan Nazarbayev stay in office for life, a move criticized strongly by the country's opposition and human rights groups. "It's a step -- ultimately, when you look at the balance of these things -- in the right direction," McCormack said, when asked to comment on the reforms. Other amendments include raising the number of parliamentary deputies and letting parliament play a bigger role in picking the prime minister of Kazakhstan, a nation central to U.S. and European Union plans to diversify energy supplies to bypass Russia. But Tom Malinowski, advocacy director for the group Human Rights Watch, called the amendments a "major step backwards" for rule of law and democracy in Kazakhstan. "The United States can have a perfectly good relationship with Kazakhstan while at the same time being honest in its assessment of democracy there. There is no need to sugarcoat it," Malinowski said. When pressed, McCormack conceded the political reforms were not "exactly what we would have hoped" but added: "They are going to have to deal with these issues on their own terms. We're not going to impose it on them." Nazarbayev has been in power for 17 years and the opposition has long accused the 66-year-old of trying to tighten his grip over most aspects of life in Kazakhstan. The opposition has also accused the West of putting Kazakhstan's oil resources before democracy. When restrictions were imposed on the media last year, Washington offered a weak rebuke of the action. U.S. oil firms have invested heavily in Kazakhstan, which is expected to join the top 10 oil producers in a decade. Last year, President George W. Bush hosted Nazarbayev at the White House, seeking to bolster ties with a country that also lent Washington support over the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The reforms are aimed at opening the way for Kazakhstan to take over the rotating chair of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in 2009. The United States has not yet publicly supported that bid and is waiting to see what reforms are enacted before making a final decision. Kazakhstan expert Martha Brill Olcott, a scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, said the U.S. response to the amendments was pragmatic and aimed at encouraging its ally to move forward on reforms. "The U.S. does not want to be prematurely pushed into deciding whether they are willing to let Kazakhstan chair the OSCE in 2009. That is the driver for all these reforms," she said. |
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| Originally posted by star-traveller US sees Kazakh reforms as step "in right direction" What a fucking lying bastard the US is. |
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| Originally posted by LazFX FOAD already...... |
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| Originally posted by star-traveller Sorry, it was a bit straight forward, I elaborated my opinion |
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| Originally posted by LazFX your anti-american stance on every issue makes it hard to even try to read your tripe...... so I will elaborate on mine..... nigga please! |
And btw, it's not anti-american stance you tart, it's anti-Bush one.
How many times should I repeat my self that I love the US and want eventually move there.
Look out, Laz, star just dropped the hammer down on you. Never have I seen anyone reach down deep inside and go for it all by dropping "The Tart" bomb.
You would be wise not to come back, bub. That one's gotta hurt.
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