NUR-SULTAN (TCA) — Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on December 20 suggested watering down the country’s legislation regulating public gatherings and political parties. Addressing the National Council for Social Trust advisory body, Tokayev said that the current provision requiring public protests and other rallies to be approved by officials beforehand should be dropped, RFE/RL’s Kazakh Service reported.

However, organizers should still give notice to the authorities.

Tokayev also suggested to simplify the process for creating political parties in order to pave the way for the election of opposition figures in parliament, which is currently composed by members of the ruling Nur-Otan party and other pro-government politicians.

The minimum number of people required to set up a new party would be decreased from 40,000 to 20,000, according to the president.

He also said he wants to decriminalize hate speech and libel, which he said should be administrative offenses.

If approved, the proposed changes would soften some key restrictions on political freedom in the country.

Kazakhstan’s leadership is often criticized by human rights groups for not allowing real political opposition and for suppressing dissent and free media.

Tokayev, 66, became president after his predecessor Nursultan Nazarbayev announced his resignation in March after ruling the country for nearly 30 years.

Nazarbayev, 79, continues to control social, economic, and political spheres by leading Nur-Otan and the influential Security Council.

On December 20, he traveled to St. Petersburg, Russia, to represent his country at a summit of the Eurasian Economic Union.

TASHKENT (TCA) — Uzbekistan’s Minister of Public Education Mr. Sherzod Shermatov and the Deputy Country Director of the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Uzbekistan Resident Mission Mr. Enrico Pinali have signed an agreement for ADB to advise on a public–private partnership (PPP) to help rehabilitate and construct public schools in Sergeli district of the Uzbek capital city, Tashkent, ADB’s Country Office in Uzbekistan said.

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BISHKEK (TCA) — U.S. Marines delivered toys and other donations from the U.S. Embassy Community in Bishkek to children of the SOS Children’s Village, a nongovernmental charitable organization providing services for children in Kyrgyzstan without parental care. The donations were made on December 14 through the Marine “Toys for Tots” Program which occurs every year around the world, the U.S. Embassy in Kyrgyzstan said on December 20.

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NUR-SULTAN (TCA) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and RG Brands (RGB), a leading food and beverage group in Kazakhstan, have signed a $20 million loan to modernize operations along the company’s regional distribution chain. The assistance will improve the livelihoods of shopkeepers and support women’s empowerment in Kazakhstan and in neighboring Kyrgyzstan, ADB’s Country Office in Kazakhstan said on December 20.

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KABUL (TCA) — On December 19, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded the Article IV consultation and completed the sixth and final review under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) arrangement for the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. Completion of this review enables the disbursement of SDR 5.38 million (about US$ 7.4 million). The three-and-half year ECF arrangement for SDR 32.38 million (about US$44.7 million or 10 percent of Afghanistan’s quota in the IMF) was approved by the IMF Executive Board on July 20, 2016, to support the government’s reform efforts and to help catalyze donor funding.

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ASHGABAT (TCA) — Multilateral consultations on the development of the UN Special Programme for the countries of the Aral Sea basin took place in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan on December 19. The meeting was organized in accordance with the final Joint Communique of the Summit of the Founders of IFAS held in Turkmenistan last August and with the Resolutions on “Cooperation between the United Nations and the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea” (IFAS) adopted by the UN General Assembly at the initiative of Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov in 2018 and 2019, the State News Agency of Turkmenistan reported.

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