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Kazakstan
The Election of 1994 and Its Aftermath
After the early dissolution in 1993 of Kazakstan's first parliament,
an election for the 177 seats of the new, "professional" parliament
was held in March 1994. The election was so closely managed and
restricted by the government that observers from the Organization
for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE; before 1995, the
Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe--CSCE--see Glossary)
initially were reluctant to certify the election as fair.
Despite his careful electoral management, Nazarbayev netted
a reliable bloc of only about sixty of the 177 seats. The remaining
deputies quickly organized themselves into a "constructive" opposition
bloc, a center-left configuration calling itself Respublika. It
included a number of disparate political groups. A subgroup of
Respublika organized a shadow cabinet to provide alternative viewpoints
and programs to those of the government.
At the end of May 1994, the parliament passed a vote of no confidence
in the government of Prime Minister Sergey Tereshchenko, who had
been in office since 1991. Nazarbayev put off dismissing Tereshchenko,
citing the provision of the 1993 constitution giving the president
the right to name the prime minister, subject only to parliamentary
confirmation. By midyear, however, parliament was in rebellion
against the president, and a new faction of Respublika, including
a broad range of communist, nationalist, and special-issue parties,
demanded the resignations of Nazarbayev and Tereshchenko.
In mid-October, following a month-long scandal over the private
dealings of Tereshchenko's ministers of internal affairs and the
economy (the second of whom was indicted), Nazarbayev was finally
forced to dismiss the Tereshchenko government. Nazarbayev named
industrialist Akezhan Kazhegeldin to replace Tereshchenko. As
chief of a northern industrial conglomerate, Kazhegeldin, a Kazak,
was closely associated with the Russian-controlled sector of Kazakstan
prior to 1991.
Thus, by late 1994 parliament was emerging as a particular focus
for anti-Nazarbayev sentiment. Although extremely unproductive
itself, passing only seven laws during its year of existence,
parliament severely impeded Nazarbayev's privatization programs,
causing the complete cessation of privatization voucher distribution.
At the end of 1994, the parliament issued its own alternative
New Economic Policy, in competition with Nazarbayev's, and parliament
also attempted to take over actual disbursement of funds for the
state budget. At the same time, parliament was providing a forum
for several skilled and well-financed men to position themselves
for a challenge to Nazarbayev in the presidential election scheduled
for 1996.
In March 1995, Kazakstan's Constitutional Court ruled the 1994
parliamentary election invalid because of procedural irregularities
that, among other things, waived certain requirements for pro-Nazarbayev
candidates. After filing a token objection, Nazarbayev announced
the dissolution of parliament and new elections to be held in
two or three months. The Council of Ministers that had been approved
by that parliament then resigned en masse. Using emergency powers
granted him upon the dissolution of the 1990-93 parliament, Nazarbayev
reappointed Prime Minister Kazhegeldin, who installed a new Council
of Ministers. Unlike its virtually all-Kazak predecessor, the
new body put the key Ministry of Finance under a Russian, Aleksandr
Pavlov, and gave the Ministry of the Economy portfolio to a Middle
Horde Kazak from the Russified north. One of Kazhegeldin's two
new first deputy prime ministers was Kazak; the other was Russian.
The new head of the Privatization Commission, Sarybay Kalmurzayev,
also apparently was a Middle Horder. He not only began to permit
privatization auctioneers to accept cash in addition to vouchers,
but also began to give Russian companies rights of first refusal
in privatization of large industrial plants, especially military
ones. In April 1995, Nazarbayev staged a referendum that ratified
extension of his presidency until December 2000 by a 95 percent
majority. In December 1995, Nazarbayev issued a decree enabling
him to annul any existing law, demand the government's resignation,
or order new parliamentary elections. This step furthered the
authoritarian direction of Kazakstan's government.
Data as of March 1996
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