This is a translation of Epolet’s post from the Kazakhstan blog.

Starting from the times of English “black penny” with Queen Victoria, state leaders had started appearing on the postage stamps. It is especially typical for monarchies, although many European republics also do it (some leaders are pictured on stamps inter vivos, others - after they pass away). North Korea is considered to be the leader in this sphere with Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il. In Central Asia there all countries marked their presidents in such a way. Uzbek president Islam Karimov is an incontestable leader here.

Kazakhstan

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The main event in the country’s politics never passes by the bloggers’ attention. This week it was the time of presidential State of the Nation address. All TV stations and state-controlled newspapers provided its aggressively propagandistic coverage, that bloggers were unhappy with [ru].

As megakhuimyak jokes, “our president does not need the always assenting people – that’s why when he says “No”, we all shall say “No”. [ru]

However, many observers felt quite sincerely positive about the speech, which was more realistic than the earlier ones, with more pragmatic and unpleasant things like the stressed need for economy.

A comprehensive review of the president’s address came from count-asylum, who notes the bookmarks – increased pressure on the foreign companies working in the extractive sector, taxation system reform, strengthening of the state-owned holdings and governmental regulation of the financial sphere together with a welcoming stance towards foreign banks [ru]. (more…)

Reshuffling of elites and higher officials in Kazakhstan is rarely a consequence of open political debates. Quiet resignations and appointments in the conditions of shady politics provide a fertile soil for commenters and observers to ponder on the reasons that are underneath this or that shuffle. However, there is a shared opinion that in recent years the elites are getting younger, as the “older guard” of Soviet Communist Party bosses is gradually stepping down.

Recently the Kazakhstan president has appointed Kairat Kelimbetov, a 39-year-old tecnocrat economist, educated in Moscow, as head of the presidential administration. He has made a successful carreer on the public service from the officer at the planning department in the Ministry of Economy up to the head of this ministry. Last year he was heading the state Fund of Sustainable Development “Kazyna” and became deputy chairman of the presidential “Nur-Otan” party. (more…)

Kazakhstan is a country that often boasts with inter-ethnic and religious tolerance - in tsar epoch it accepted many labor migrants from Ukraine and Russia. In J. Stalin’s times it was a destination for deported nations and political prisoners. In late Soviet period thousands of industrial and agricultural professionals came here to partake in economic modernization of the republic. It was back in 1980s when Kazakhstan earned the title of a “laboratory of inter-ethnic friendship” and now every year the new capital, Astana, hosts the Forum of inter-confessional consent under the patronage of president Nazarbayev. At the same time, not everyone believes that this is a characteristic of modern Kazakhstan, as minor ethnic tensions are occuring in the everyday life and the Kazakhs are prevailing in the state structures.

Slavoyara, a journalist and an ethnic Russian living in the Central Kazakhstan, is so cautious about overwhelming predominance of Kazakhs in the state bodies, that she even contemplates emigration:

“That’s how political balance work here… When all nationalties of the country will be proportionally represented in the government, tax bodies, local administrations etc., then we would be able to speak discuss it. Frankly, I don’t care much about this issue. We live well, make money and eat sufficiently. But my kids will live in another - genuinely international - country. And they will speak English, not Kazakh” [ru].

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Kazakhstan is a country of contrasts, with no exaggeration: desperate poverty neighbors with arrogant wealth, economic growth is accompanied by decline of social sphere and expansion of state control, and tolerance abuts discrimination. Such is the set of topics in focus of Kazakhstani blogosphere this week.

Eilide, a blogger living in Armenia but closely watching the developments in Kazakhstan, wonders if everything is really as good in Kazakhstan as some of her country’s experts describe:

“They praise institutional development, stock market and financial sphere on the whole. A nice picture of rich and prosperous country. But there is crisis in banking sector, stock market is still very weak and most pension funds show low profitability. Or am I missing something?”, she asks [ru].

Although financial and banking sector do indeed demonstrate vesible sustainability in comparison with other CIS countries, expansion of the state raises serious concerns of the observers, especially after amendments in the subsoil legislation that had been introduced last year, giving the government an exceptional right to unilaterally cancel contracts with the foreign investors that work in the sphere of extraction of natural resources. (more…)

The row of dayoffs in Kazakhstan brought a dead season for news and blogosphere, following the 2005 law on national holidays, which made both Qurban Eid and Christian Orthodox Christmas non-working days along with the New Year celebrations. However, some developments were discussed by the bloggers, who have noticed some frivolousness in the overall picture.

Mantrovkz writes about flash-based cartoons that have appeared on the web [ru]. The prank stuff features a concocted chrachter, which reminds the head of the state:

The cartoons are made by some “Kaimak Surets” [Sour Cream Pictures - Kaz] with only one person behind it. He alleges he is living in California, working for a high-tech industry and says that cartoons will appear regularly in response to the political developments in Kazakhstan. “That’s my vision of the situation. As a Kazakh, I feel keenly about my country”, he says.”

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maciula writes about the fifth anniversary of the failed assassination attempt on Turkmenbashi.

While the usual discussions about political cobwebs and oil business intrigues kept the Kazakhstani bloggers busy, two dramatic incidents stood out: A rocket crash potentially threatening the health of thousands of people and the murder of a Russian blogger made the Kazakhstani blogosphere think about the value of a human life.

But politics first: Andy-taker draws attention to the fact that ministers in Kazakhstan are being shuffled, migrating from one government to another, without particular affixment to their profession. Pretty much the same happens on lower levels; maybe this is the reason for the people’s dissatisfaction with the officials?

After visits to a number of government bodies and agencies, Astanchanka is left very angry: “Bureaucrats are just killing me! They are rude and ignorant - ridiculously explaining this with low salaries and tiredness. Gorbachev was right: Citizens should start Perestroika from themselves” (RUS).

Raseyannaya from Ekibastuz (a town in Central Kazakhstan) is indignant towards those officials who are skeptical about non-traditional religions, consider Krishna followers as extremists and want to introduce religious education in schools. “Our state is secular”, she reminds people, “and even if I want to worship a Steam Iron, nobody shall have any objections” (RUS).

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The fallout from the 18 August 2007 parliamentary elections is still having an impact on local and international bloggers. Apathy, resignation, anger, surprise - there were many emotions for a poll many Kazakhs called a sham election. Adam Kesher collects some voices.

On the eve of the elections, a result prediction poll on the top Livejournal community 101almatinec showed that the bloggers were far from being unanimous in their forecasts. This seems interesting, because most of the people here explain their absenteeism and apathy with the allegation that the “results were known in advance”. This time it wasn’t the case, apparently (RUS).

Woman casting their vote, by Flickr User hemak (more…)

There’s new talk of a New Great Game unfolding in Central Asia. The thing that made me post on this, to me unfamiliar, terrain of geopolitics was a news report in yesterday’s UK Times. The piece quoted the head of the British army Sir Richard Dannattin in the context of British forces facing a “generation of conflict” in Afghanistan:

[He] gave warning of the dangers posed by a “strident Islamist shadow” and suggested that the British Army was “on the edge of a new and deadly Great Game in Afghanistan”.

Discussing the speech on BBC Radio 4’s Today show, Dr. Michael Denison of Leeds University said that Sir Dannatin’s remarks should be read as that British security interests can only be maintained by fighting in “remote and treacherous areas abroad”, and on a tactical level by “local deal-making, attrition and espionage”.

Well, although Sir Dannatin only mentioned Afghanistan in his speech, the return to an oldschool-19th century “Tournament of Shadows” might also be an appealing story for the odd sensationalist journalist predicting a clash between the NATO-West and the SCO-East in Central Asia. (more…)