Elections in Kazakhstan will update country's politics

An expert round-table discussion titled 'The early parliamentary elections in Kazakhstan and the prospects for Russian-Kazakh relations' was held in Moscow today. It was organized by the Information Analysis Center (IAC) for the study of social and political processes in the post-Soviet space of Moscow State University together with the Zinoviyev Club of the IIA Rossiya Segodnya.

Participants of the event discussed the possible results of the forthcoming elections and further development of the political processes in Kazakhstan, as well as the development of Russian-Kazakh relations.

The director of the Institute of Regional Problems, Dmitry Zhuravlev, said in an interview with a correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza that Kazakhstan is not the leader in the holding of pre-term elections.

"The UK has held early elections more frequently. The Kazakh leadership will strengthen the political system and it will be very important for the reforms in Kazakh society. These elections are a prerequisite for the further development of the country in this difficult situation," the analyst noted.

"Today there are many people who would like to destabilize the situation in Russia and Kazakhstan. The elections could forestall such things. The principle of democracy will not be changed, no matter how many parties exist. Another aspect is that the elections will help to partially change the political groups, which will update the composition but maintain stability," Dmitry Zhuravlev assured.

"The purpose of the upcoming parliamentary elections in Kazakhstan is to further strengthen the alliance of the people and the elite," the expert concluded.

The global brand of color revolutions and integration is a successful competitor in Kazakhstan, the assistant professor of the department of integrated communications of the Higher School of Economics of the National Research University, Pavel Rodkin, said.

"Political branding is a standard practice. The Nur Otan party repeats the situation in Russia in conjunction with the United Russia party. But in Russia, Vladimir Putin is trying to distance himself from United Russia, but Kazakhstan preserves the 'President is the backbone of the country' system. "This strategy is correct during such an alarming situation in the world. The future of those Kazakh brands is a step which is being made in Russia," the expert said.

"The main carrier of the integration brand is Nursultan Nazarbayev and his party. In spite of all the problems and difficulties, he does not give up this way, though he does not exclude other vectors of development (for example, cooperation with China and western countries). It provides the party with stability. Other parties often cut off other means of development, except the western one, for example," Pavel Rodkin explained.

The leading expert of the North-South Political Science Center, Alexander Karavaev, expresses the view that we won't see any surprises in the upcoming elections.

"We can only talk about the personal composition of the new parliament. The proportion, which has developed in the form of missions – three parties and nine representatives – is the best option. So why do we need these elections now? The EEU has started operating, 100 institutional development steps have been taken, an active process of industrial modernization is coming, so this is the re-certification of politically active people. There will be an upgrade, but the backbone will pass the exam," the analyst stressed.

"We need a partial rotation of the ruling party. There will be elections at all levels of the legislature, 3335 people will be elected. More than 3 thousand potential candidates were nominated out of 340 thousand people. This is a huge section of society, government and business," Alexander Karavaev explained.

"In 2016, we must undertake a bulk package of documents on administrative reforms. We need a new version of the Budget Code. The project of combining the tax and customs codes will be considered. A sales tax will be introduced instead of a value-added tax. We also need the free formation of economic budgets," Karavaev concluded.

Kazakhstan is a unique country in the post-Soviet space, a member of the Zinoviev club, the director of the EurAsEC Institute, Vladimir Lepekhin, said. "Kazakhstan is the only country which is undergoing real modernization. From the day Nazarbayev led the country, he has stabilized the political and economic situation and ensures development. Nazarbayev is a great tactician and strategist. It is important to watch how parties behave themselves," the analyst said.

"The second task is personnel changes: it will show the West that a democratic process exists in the country. Since the country's leader is not young anymore, the question arises: how to ensure the transition from the super-presidential era to a parliamentary-presidential one? We need a dialogue of political parties. The prospects of relations between Russia and Kazakhstan are largely dependent on how Kazakhstan will be developing," Vladimir Lepekhin concluded.