The promoters of the initiative are independent candidates who were not elected in the recent elections for the national Parliament. The Tokaev regime, accused of falsifying votes. Many political activists remain in prison. There is no difference between the “new” Kazakhstan and the old one, which was ruled by Nazarbayev.
Moscow () – On April 9, a rally was held at the Independence Monument on Republic Square, in the center of the former southern capital, Almaty, the most populous city in Kazakhstan. During the act, the birth of the “People’s Parliament”, an opposition movement to the regime of President Kasym-Žomart Tokaev, was proclaimed. The promoters of the initiative are independent candidates who were not elected in the recent elections on March 19 for the renewal of the Mažilis, the Astana Parliament, and the Maslikhaty, the regional assemblies.
The demonstration had not been agreed with the authorities, which, however, did not intervene to disperse hundreds of people, some coming from other regions. Rysbek Sarsenbajuly, one of the main organizers of the group “Khalik Parlamenti” (in Kazakh), explained that the authorities had put pressure on the group to prevent the meeting, whose participation was much lower than expected.
The police attended the demonstration without intervening. However, the journalists observed buses parked a short distance away, to take away protesters in case of riots. Present at the event was the head of the Department of Social Policies of the Almaty municipality, Ajdar Esenbekov, who had signed the refusal of the meeting permit, but did not want to comment on the circumstance.
During the rally, the speakers at the meeting recalled the invitation to the mayor of Almaty, Erbolat Dosaev, and the city prosecutor, Žandos Abdibaev, to attend to the claims of those present. Sarsenbajuly, another unelected candidate, stated that “he had actually won a clean victory in the elections, but the Election Commission falsified the results; more than an election, it was a farce.”
The protesters shouted “Old man, go away!”, the slogan that has marked the protests in recent years against former president Nazarbayev, especially during the Almaty riots in January 2022. The mistakes of the “father of the homeland”, now formally removed, they are attributed by inheritance to his dauphin, the current president Tokaev.
The politician Mukhtar Tajžan intervened to remind that “since Tokaev came to power in 2019 he promised to build a fair Kazakhstan, and what happened? He deceived us, as the last elections showed. Vote theft is a great crime, and we will not stop in our struggle.” Some activists in the Turkistan region also denounced cases of electoral fraud.
During the rally in downtown Almaty, the authorities blocked Internet access. At the rally, the participants recalled the names of people persecuted in the country for political reasons: among others, they mentioned Ermek Narymbaj, detained since the time of Nazarbayev and still in prison under Tokaev, Margulana Boranbaeva and Danata Namazbaeva.
According to Tajžan, “there is no difference between the new and the old Kazakhstan.” Another activist, Aružan Dujsebaeva, denounced electoral fraud, pointing out that the leader of the Democratic Party was not admitted to the elections, alluding to Žanbolat Mamaj, who is still under investigation and could receive a serious sentence. “Any other [candidato] I could end up in the same situation,” he added.
At the end of the rally it was decided to declare the new Parliament “illegitimate” and call for new, transparent and fair elections. After singing the national anthem, the protesters dispersed. In other cities of Kazakhstan there were several calls such as those organized by the “Alga, Kazakhstan!” party, which was not admitted to the elections. Although the demonstrations were not authorized, they were tolerated, but the organizers are being closely watched by the authorities.
Many independent observers also confirmed the allegations of irregularities during the March 19 elections, both during the voting and the counting, but the authorities argue that the voting was legitimate and that only a few “insignificant violations” were recorded.
