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Evolution of political parties of Kazakhstan has its roots at the beginning of the 20 th century. At that period Kazakhstan was a part of Russian Empire. The increased Russian influence and colonization policy in Kazakhstan conduced to the creation of the first political party of Kazakhstan, Alash Orda in 1917. This party was formed by the Kazakh aristocracy against the Tsarist regime. The main goals of the party were "political self-determination, , the defense of Kazakh land from further Russian invasion, the creation of new land regulation, the formation and maintenance of Kazakh written language and the promotion of educational programs. " Alash Orda was the first manifestation of the national political consciousness of the Kazakh people. Being a part of the Soviet Empire, Kazakhstan could not avoid the omnipresence of the Communist party.
The Bolsheviks tried to suppress nationally oriented movement and in 1928 Alash Orda lost its ruling positions to the Communists. For seventy years Kazakhstan was under the control of the Communist party. Economic, cultural, and social life of the country was subordinated to the unlimited power of the party. All other political parties and movements were prohibited. People with different views were imprisoned or even exterminated as it had happened during the Stalinist purges in the 1920 s and 1930 s. Many brilliant Kazakh scholars and representatives of the Kazakh intelligentsia were declared as "enemies" and killed.
The adventure of Gorbachev to power in 1995 put an end to the monopoly of the Communist party. His unsuccessful political and economic reforms spurred the disintegration of the Soviet Union as well as Communist party, which already suffered from corruption, inefficiency, and conservatism. The fall of the Soviet Union and the loose of the leading role of the Communist party in Kazakhstan led to the emergence of different informal movements and political organizations in the republic. Political parties of Sovereign Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan has a multi-party system.
At present time there are 15 registered political parties in the country. They can be classified as centrist parties, nationalist-oriented, communist and socialist, and liberal and democratic parties. Centrist Parties Centrist parties in Kazakhstan are considered to be parties of the government or "parties of power." They are loyal to the policies conducted by the government and, actually, were inspired by the power ("from above"). These parties are called as "parties of power" The most important centrist parties which were created by the authorities to win the elections of 1999 are Civil Party and Agrarian Party. These parties could pass 7 % threshold in the parliamentary elections of 1999 and get seats in the Parliament of Kazakhstan. Civil Party of Kazakhstan was created in 1998.
Ideological leader of the party is Nursultan Nazarbaev. Azat Peruashev is the leader of the party. Civil party has its representative offices in all regions of Kazakhstan. It has fraction in the Lower Chamber of the Parliament.
According to Mr. Peruashev, the party has a strong social base mostly composed of people working in the oil and metallurgical industries. The party consists of 70 % of men (more men work in the heavy industries), 30 % of women. Ethnic composition of the party is: 45 % Russians, 40 % Kazakh, 5 % Ukrainians, Belorussian and 10 % the rest. The main goal of the party is the rise of national economy and support of national producers. To achieve this goal, the leaders stand for the decrease of state influence in economy and development of the private initiatives, on one hand.
On the other, the party favors state regulation in tax, custom, and anti-monopoly policies. According to the leader of the party, Mr. Peruashev, Civil party is the only party in Kazakhstan that expresses interests of a certain part population, in particular, workers of heavy and metallurgical industry. In the elections of 1999, Civil party got 11, 23 % of voters. 18 members of the party are in the Parliament now.
There is a party fraction in the Parliament (19 people). Agrarian Party was created in 1999, 6 of January. It is also a "party of power" (Mr. Madinov, the leader of the party, is a counselor of the President), which stands for restoration of villages and aul's. One of the main purposes of the party was participation in the elections of 1999. According to the program of the party, it is necessarily to conduct reforms in agricultural sector.
Trough the restoration of villages, it will be possible to overcome economic crisis. The leaders stand for introduction of private land property, improvement of the infrastructure in the rural areas. Despite its progressive goals, according to Mr. Madinov's words, " Agrarian party should be a conservative political force, which is against revolutionary changes and for political stability." Thus, from the beginning agrarian party was created in support of existing power. 12, 63 % of voters favored Agrarian party in the elections of 1999. Six members of the party are in the Parliament. Success of this party in the elections may be explained by the fact that this party represents interests of people of the rural areas, which is half of Kazakhstani population, on one hand.
On the other hand, this party had a success due to support of the government. There are also other centrist parties such as the Party of patriots, Party of Revival of Kazakhstan, Republican Labour party, People's Cooperative party of Kazakhstan... The authorities did not create these parties, but they are loyal to the power. According to the experts, the "parties of power" or pro-governmental parties will be more successful than the other at the political arena of Kazakhstan due to their access to finances, information, and people resources. In any democratic society, the power is supported by political parties. In Kazakhstan, political parties are weak and do not have enough influence in the electorate.
As a result, the power seeks to create political organizations, which would support the power. These kind of political organizations have to serve and be subordinated to the power. Socialist and Communist parties. There are two main parties of this bloc. They are Socialist Party of Kazakhstan and Communist Party of Kazakhstan. The latter one represents a real power at the political arena and has a significant support from the population of Kazakhstan.
In the elections of 1999, the CPK got 17, 75 % of the voters. It occupies the second position after "Otan" in regard to the number of voters of the electorate. Thus, it is possible to say that the ideas of communism are still attractive to many people in the republic. On the other hand, some experts claim that the popularity of the CPK can be explained by the fact that the ideas of Marxism-Leninism are more familiar to people than political platforms of other parties. However, this opposition party was the only one, which could propose a serious economic program for further development of the country based on mixed economy. Liberal and Democratic Parties There are several liberal and democratic parties in Kazakhstan.
They are: Peasant Social Democratic Party "All"Village", Democratic Party of Women of Kazakhstan, Republican National Party of Kazakhstan, Republican Political party "Otan" (Fatherland), People's Congress of Kazakhstan, and Democratic Party of Kazakhstan. , party of Justice, which later was united with "Otan." Among these political parties, three of them are important in the politics of Kazakhstan: "Otan", Republican National Party of Kazakhstan, and Peoples' Congress of Kazakhstan. "Otan" belongs to a bloc of liberal and democratic parties, it is also "a party of power." In 1998 it was declared that the elections of the President of RK would be held in 1999, 10 of January. To this end, in 1998 the headquarter was created in support of Nazarbaev as a candidate to the Presidency. In the 16 regions of Kazakhstan the representative offices were established. Later, in 1999 there was an initiative to create a party.
In 1999, 12 February, the political party "Otan" was registered. Nazarbaev was elected as the leader of the party but, in accordance with the Constitution, he had to reject this post. Sergey Tereshchenko was appointed as a leader of the party. The main strategy of "Otan" party was determined by the President.
The President's "Program- 2030 " became the party's political platform. It was declared that the party is a social-democratic one. It is a party of the middle class, teachers, doctors, etc. "Otan" is an international party where all ethnic groups are represented. The leaders of "Otan" find important to be active in the villages and rural area; to contact with NGOs, and involve young people into political life of the country. At present time the party cooperates with many NGOs such as Association of invalids, environmental organizations, "Ulan" (youth organization), organization of victims of political repression, etc.
In October, 1999 parliamentary elections were held in Kazakhstan. There are 9 senators and 38 deputies in Mazhilis (lower Chamber of Kazakhstani Parliament) from "Otan" 30, 89 % of population voted for this party. The party has a parliamentary fraction (40 deputies). At present time this party is the biggest one and dominant in the Parliament According to the experts, being the biggest party of Kazakhstan, however, Otan can not express the interests of the majority population of Kazakhstan, because middle class of Kazakhstan represents only 20 % of population at best. It is recognized that "Otan" is a party of bureaucrats. The other party of liberal / democratic bloc is Republican National Party of Kazakhstan.
This party is in opposition to the existing power and its main goal is to replace present government using constitutional means. In the words of one of the leaders of the party, RNPK is a party of principal opposition. The party is against personal power of the President; it stands for creation of a new Constitution; independent media, independent election system. RNPK has representative offices in all regions of Kazakhstan, and abroad including Canada, Russia, France, and USA.
It has a good structure with the Central Council. IN the words of Mr. Kossanov, chairman of the executive committee of the party, the fact that not so many people k...
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Research essay sample on Political Parties Of Kazakhstan
