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Kazakhstan’s Government Resigns Amidst Sweeping Reforms

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has dismissed the country's government by signing a decree on its’ resignation. According to the Constitution of Kazakhstan, First Deputy Prime Minister Roman Sklyar will temporarily perform the duties of Prime Minister (PM). At the same time, all other ministers will continue to work in the same mode until the head of state approves the composition of the new government. The resignation of former Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov's government underscores a shift in Kazakhstan's political scene. Smailov assumed office on January 11th, 2022, following public discontent that erupted into riots. During his tenure, many events transpired, but the most memorable for the population were serious problems with municipal heating in a number of regions; forest fires in the Kostanay and Abay regions; explosions at mines in the Karaganda region, and the earthquake in Almaty. All this evoked plenty of criticism regarding the composition of the government. While the precise reasons behind the resignation remain undisclosed, it serves to highlight the dynamic nature of politics in Kazakhstan. Further details, including the process of this transition and potential candidates for the roles vacated, are expected in the next two days following an extended meeting of the government with the participation of Tokayev. Prior to the government’s resignation, Tokayev had increasingly expressed dissatisfaction with progress in addressing socioeconomic issues and stagnation in general. Over the past two years, Tokayev has implemented sweeping reforms aimed at democratizing the country and breaking up economic monopolies. "In Kazakhstan and in general, a change of government is perceived as a crisis phenomenon, but it is by no means a crisis phenomenon here,” said Director of the Eurasian Monitoring Center, Alibek Tazhibayev. “One should proceed from the fact that the economic and political situation is changing. Therefore, we can say that this government, which acted under the leadership of Alikhan Smailov for more than two years, coped with their key tasks. They had the main goal of passing deep-rooted reforms, holding a referendum, launching the mechanism of democratization, and implementing the concept of a 'Listening State'." In a post on his Facebook account, Smailov expressed his "gratitude to President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev for his trust in heading the Kazakh government in such a difficult time. These two years were a turning point for the society," he stated.

Central Asia Local Politics Kazakhstan

The Global Family: How Would-Be Parents From Abroad Adopt Kazakhstani Children

Children from Kazakhstan are mainly adopted by citizens of European countries, the USA and Canada, according to the Ministry of Education, which recently discussed some of the changing trends in the adoption of children from Kazakhstan. There are two types of adoption procedure in the country: adoption by citizens of Kazakhstan or adoption by citizens of other countries. The number of Kazakh children adopted by foreign citizens has decreased significantly over the last decade -- from 2013 to 2023 only 158 Kazakh children were adopted abroad, compared with 8,805 children in the period from 1999 to 2011. Since 2013 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has controlled the process of foreign families adopting children from Kazakhstan. The Ministry of Education emphasizes that foreign citizens can only adopt a child if the chance to adopt them was refused by relatives who are citizens of Kazakhstan -- or if the child does not have any relatives. The ministry also explained that adoption of children by foreign nationals is only permitted to citizens of a country that has child-protection legislation that is on par with that in Kazakhstan. Children adopted by foreign citizens are registered with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs before leaving Kazakhstan.

Central Asia Uzbekistan Environment Environment Uzbekistan Local Politics

Uzbekistan Bans Mining Non-Metallic Materials In Rivers

From May 1st Uzbekistan will introduce a permanent ban on the mining of non-metallic materials in the riverbeds of the Chirchik, Sangzor, Zarafshan, Naryn, Kashkadarya and Surkhandarya rivers. Permits to extract sand and gravel materials from river beds and other water areas will only be granted through the electronic trading platform E-Auksion. This proposal was made jointly by the Ministry of Ecology, Environmental Protection and Climate Change and the Ministry of Mines and Geology, and was approved by president Shavkat Mirziyoyev on January 17th. The boundaries of the areas covered by the ban will be determined by the Cabinet of Ministers. During the moratorium period there will be a tenfold increase in the fines imposed for environmental damage caused to these areas as a result of illegal extraction. These fines will be directed to the country's ecological fund. The ban prohibits the extraction of sand and gravel materials in river beds and other water areas, as well as other extraction works on other deposits located in mountainous or foothill (land) areas.

Central Asia Local Politics Kazakhstan Business & Economy Kazakhstan Business & Economy

Kazakh PM Reports On Country’s Economic Results For 2023

On January 22nd Kazakh president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev received the country's prime minister Alikhan Smailov, who reported on Kazakhstan’s economic results for 2023, the presidential press office reported. In 2023 the country's economic growth was 5.1%. Investments in fixed capital increased by 13.7%, to $39.5 billion, while over the first nine months of 2023 $19.7 billion of foreign direct investment was attracted. The number of people employed in small and medium-sized businesses increased by 14% (by 500,000) to 4.3 million people. Inflation was reduced twofold, down to 9.8%. Kazakhstan’s foreign trade turnover last year increased by 2.2% and amounted to $126 billion, with exports exceeding imports by $16 billion. Tokayev was informed that the government fulfilled all its social obligations. Pensions were indexed by 10.5%, and by another 9% since the beginning of this year. Payments to persons with disabilities increased by 23%. The prime minister reported on the implementation of the Unified Pool of Investment Projects. Last year, 298 projects were launched. In 2024 it is planned to implement another 326 projects, including 180 projects in the manufacturing industry, creating 15,000 new jobs.

Central Asia Justice Kazakhstan Local Politics Kazakhstan Justice Local Politics Kazakhstan

Senator Zhanna Asanova: the bill against domestic violence is ready to be submitted to the Mazhilis

According to the prominent Kazakh senator Zhanna Asanova, in 2023 domestic violence claimed the lives of 69 women and children, and more than 99,000 people sought help for this reason. A total of 2,452 crimes against children were registered. In a post on Facebook, Ms Asanova announced that a bill aimed at countering domestic violence is ready to be submitted to Kazakhstan’s parliament, the Mazhilis. She stressed that a number of experts on women's and children's rights were involved in creating the bill. Senator Asanova also emphasized that state agencies, in partnership with Kazakhstan’s children's ombudsman Dinara Zakiyeva, are working to increase the number of guardianship officers to 1,650 people. Currently there are only 309 of them in the country. Ms Asanova wrote: "As the president noted, any legislative changes will not be effective unless there is complete rejection, 'zero tolerance' in society, for any form of aggression and violence." The bill includes the following measures: 1. Criminalization of violence, which implies the establishment of criminal liability for battery and causing minor harm to health (currently these crimes are regulated by the Code of Administrative Offences of the Republic of Kazakhstan). 2. Classifying these crimes as criminal offenses requiring public prosecution in order to increase the effectiveness of law enforcement. 3. Toughening the punishment for these crimes and excluding the possibility of reconciliation of the parties to all forms of violence against children, in order to ensure the protection of the rights and interests of children. 4. Creation of infrastructure for assistance to families and children, including the opening of Family Support Centers and Centers for Psychological Support of Children, to provide comprehensive assistance to victims. 5. Introduction of special requirements in the Criminal Code, including psychological work with the aggressor, in order to prevent repeated cases of violence and to rehabilitate perpetrators of such crimes.

Central Asia Tajikistan Local Politics Tajikistan Features Features

European Parliament Condemns Repression in Tajikistan, Underlying Issues Persist

On January 18th, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on human rights in Tajikistan which condemns the ongoing crackdown against independent media, government critics, human rights activists and independent lawyers, as well as the closure of independent media and websites. Parliament members urged the authorities to stop persecuting lawyers defending government critics and journalists, and immediately and unconditionally release those arbitrarily detained and drop all charges against them, including human rights lawyers Manuchehr Kholiknazarov and Buzurgmehr Yorov. In the resolution, the European Parliament members insisted that respect for freedom of expression in Tajikistan should be taken into account when assessing the application of the EU’s Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP+) for Tajikistan and negotiations of a new EU-Tajikistan Partnership and Cooperation Agreement. In December 2023, the chair of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Ben Cardin sent a letter to the President of Tajikistan, Emomali Rahmon, urging him to cease acts of domestic and transnational repression against political opponents and religious minorities. “There are persistent reports of arbitrary arrest, denial of judicial due process, as well as acts of violence including torture, assault and even instances of murder of journalists, political dissidents, as well as community and religious leaders,” Cardin wrote. In recent years, several Tajik journalists, activists, and opposition politicians have been sentenced to lengthy prison terms largely based on accusations of collaborating with organizations labelled as extremist or banned in Tajikistan.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image="13842" img_size="full" el_class="scond-image" parallax_scroll="no" woodmart_inline="no"][vc_column_text woodmart_inline="no" text_larger="no"]Still a relatively young country, the official date of the independence of Tajikistan - a front-line state facing the extremism of the Taliban - is September 9th 1991. Whilst criticisms are warranted and accurate, particularly through the prism of western democracy, the crux of the problem would appear to be endemic corruption and weak institutions propagated by kleptocratic wealth and organized crime. As to how high up the criminality goes, in 2000 the Tajik Ambassador to Kazakhstan was arrested in Almaty with 86 kilos of heroin in his car. In 2001, the Deputy Minister of the Interior was murdered, the prosecution in the case arguing he’d been assassinated for refusing to pay for a shipment of 50 kilos. A statement released by the UNDP in 2001 estimated that drug money accounted for between 30 -50% of the Tajik economy. The year Tajikistan took over policing of its border with Afghanistan from the Russians, seizures of heroin halved. Piqued by the critical international response, President Rahmon levelled counter-allegations of Russian complicity in the heroin trade. “Why do you think generals lined up in Moscow all the way across Red Square and paid enormous bribes to be assigned here?” he complained to U.S. officials. “Just so they could do their patriotic duty?”