Students eager to vote despite bad weather
Babies for Nazarbayev!
Pie seller at polling station ponders how to cast her vote
Lord Venal exhausted after a hard days observing
Tag Archives: Central Asia
Aliya Nazarbayeva – The Next GooGoosha?
19 Apr
News reaches Kazaxia that Aliya Nazarbayeva, the youngest daughter of Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev, has teamed up with Italian jewellers Damiani to produce Alsara, an exclusive collection of 30 diamond-studded pieces.
Billboards have appeared at major junctions around Almaty promoting the Alsara collection with Aliya modelling a pair of very expensive-looking dangle earrings. The brand is a combination of the names of Aliya and her mother Sara and is aimed at Kazakhstan’s high-rollers with prices ranging from 15,000 to 70,000 euros.
The collection has echoes of GULI, the jewellery brand of Gulnara Karimova, a fellow president’s daughter from neighbouring Uzbekistan. Gulnara, or GooGoosha to her adoring public, has also made herself a singing career – can we expect to hear Aliya bursting into song soon?
Kazakhstan’s Ice Queens Mauled in Switzerland
18 AprKazakhstan’s women’s ice hockey team have been taking a mauling at the world championships in Switzerland. Despite being the top team in Asia and ranked 8 in the world, the team has found itself seriously out of its depth in Switzerland.
On 17 April Canada downed the Kazakhs 7-0. The scoreline could have been worse but for the valiant efforts of 20-year-old goalie Daria Obydennova who blocked 64 shots on goal. It was an exhausting weekend for Daria – on Saturday she made 52 saves as the Kazakhs lost 5-3 to Finland.
Kazakhstan won gold in the seventh Asian Winter Games, held in Almaty and Astana earlier this year, after beating China 4-1 in the final. The scale of the task facing the Asia’s ice queens is put into perspective, however, with the fact that Canada has some 85,000 registered players whilst Kazakhstan has just 86.
There’s still an outside chance that Kazakhstan could progress to the quarter-finals if it can mange to overcome Switzerland on Tuesday 19 April. There’s hope for the Kazakhs as Canada trounced the hosts 12-0 earlier in the week.
Kazakhstan: Diary of an Election Observer
12 AprKazaxia has received the following contribution from Britain’s Lord Venal, who was recently in Kazakhstan to observe the presidential elections.
I have just returned from observing the elections in Kazakhstan’s marvellous new capital Astana and I feel compelled to put pen to paper to extol the great steps this young nation has taken in building a vibrant democracy in just 20 short years.
On election day I was kindly provided with a car and driver by the authorities so I could visit as many polling stations as possible. From what I observed in these polling stations, there is a great deal that my own country could learn in how to run an election.
At each polling station I was greeted by officials and was allowed to observe close up how free and fair these elections were. There were presents on offer for the first people to arrive – I myself was given a rather fine pair of rose-tinted spectacles. It was truly heartening to see so many bright-eyed and bushy-tailed students queuing up to vote at seven in the morning. Can you imagine our lazy teenagers in Britain getting up so early on election day – and on a Sunday at that?
After watching a few people cast their votes, we were treated to a splendid feast with a table groaning with horsemeat sausage and the national dish besbarmak, a delightful combination of choice cuts of meat and sheets of pasta. This was washed down with some vodka shots that left me quite bleary-headed.
It wasn’t all feasting, though. My government-provided interpreter worked selflessly to give me the views of her fellow citizens, who all told me unanimously how pleased they were with the stability and prosperity their leader had brought to the country. She herself was a volunteer from the Nur Otan party, the only party that is represented in the country’s parliament.
As the polls closed, I was relieved to be driven back to my $500 a night suite at the Rixos Hotel as I was ready to burst and a bit tired and emotional after all that exemplary Kazakh hospitality.
The next day I was taken on a tour of Kazakhstan’s breathtaking new capital and saw a spontaneous display of support for President Nazarbayev in a local sports hall as he celebrated his astounding victory with hundreds of students.
The turnout, at around 90%, was phenomenal, which shows how successful Kazakhstan has been in creating its democracy. The huge majority for the President illustrates how popular Mr Nazarbayev is with the electorate. In Britain we can only dream about such turnout figures and levels of support for our politicians. I heartily endorse my fellow observer Daniel Witt, who put it thus:
Kazakhs turned out in droves on April 3 to re-elect President Nursultan Nazarbayev to another, five-year term. The overwhelming, 95.54 percent vote for him was not only an affirmation of Nazarbayev’s popularity but an indication of the electorate’s satisfaction with the direction of the country. Turnout was extraordinarily high with 89.9 percent of registered voters participating, up from 76.8 percent in the 2005 presidential election.
I would like to point out that, like my colleague Lord Waverley, we were in no way sponsored by the Kazakhstan government during this observation mission. My travel and accommodation were generously paid for by a group based in Northern Cyprus that is bidding for oil concessions in Kazakhstan.
Therefore, in my unbiased view, I can say that Kazakhstan is a true beacon of democracy in this troubled region. The Kazakhs can be proud of both their leader and their democracy.
Five More Years!
8 AprNursultan Nazarbayev was today sworn in for five more years at the helm of Kazakhstan after his crushing victory in last week’s election where he swept up 95.55% of the vote.
A huge crowd had been bussed in to cheer the President as he made his way into an arena filled with the great and good of Kazakh society. Politicians and officials gazed on solemnly as “The Leader” hailed the stability and progress he has brought to the country in his 22 years in charge.
In the audience were the three stooges who had ostensibly run against the incumbent in the election. After taking the oath of office, Nazarbayev extolled the prosperity that the country had enjoyed in the 20 years since it emerged from the rubble of the Soviet Union.
Now the task for the administration is to work on the 4.45% who didn’t vote for “The Leader” and to get the 10% of voters who stayed away from the polls to see the error of their ways and ensure 100% turnout and support in 2016.
Take Cover – The Liquidator’s Here
7 Apr
The Liquidator is Here!
“The Liquidator,” Akan Satayev’s new film, opens today in Kazakhstan on the back of a huge publicity drive. With a barrage of posters to rival in numbers those of President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s recent re-election campaign, the hype surrounding this Kazakh blockbuster has been hard to avoid.
This film tells the story of a bodyguard seeking to avenge the suspicious death of his brother. The film stars Kazakh actors Berik Aitzhanov and Aziz Beshenaliev along with British hard-man Vinnie Jones, who features in the movie as a mute hired killer.
Click here to see a trailer for “The Liquidator”
Only Vinnie was felt to bring the requisite level of menace to the venture with his track record of playing violent, sometimes deranged characters. He made his debut in 1998 in Guy Ritchie’s “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels” and has since cornered the market in these menacing roles.
Satayev’s first film “Racketeer” was a box-office smash in Kazakhstan in 2007. It told the story of a boxer making his way in the violent underbelly of Almaty in the chaotic 1990s. His next feature “Strayed” was in the running for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film this year and dealt with the mystery surrounding a family stranded on the steppe.
His next production “Myn Bala” will go back to the past to explore the struggle between the Kazkahs and their biggest foes the Zhungars in the 18th century. In the meantime you’ll have to make do with “The Liquidator”, a tale of gory 21st century vengeance.
Kazakhstan Election Guide
25 MarWith just over a week to go until the presidential elections in Kazakhstan on April 3, there is little sign that the poll has caught the public’s imagination. With the main opposition party representatives either boycotting, refusing to take part or disallowed from the election, the electorate has been left a choice between four men of varying shades of grey.
Here’s Kazaxia’s guide to who’s taking part with a look at their campaign posters that are on display in the centre of Almaty. Hot favourite to win the poll is the incumbent Nursultan Nazarbayev – he’s joined in the vote by eco-warrior Mels Yeleusizov, diehard commie Zhambyl Akhmetbekov and the joker in the pack Gani Kasymov.
The Leader
The sitting president looks serious in his campaign poster that appears all over Almaty. In office since 1991, he doesn’t need any catchy slogans – his poster merely reads: “We’re voting for the Leader”. His posters are placed apart from those of his opponents as he maintains an aloof position above the rough and tumble of politics.
Mels gives commuters a hard stare
Trying to win the green vote is long-term environmental campaigner Mels Yeleusizov. Often to be found clearing up his compatriots’ litter and planting trees, Yeleusizov looks down sternly at motorists from his pedestal on a flyover in the centre of Almaty. Maybe he’s trying to prick the consciences of the jeep-driving masses as they sit in traffic on their way home.
Kazakh workers of the world unite!
The Communist People’s Party of Kazakhstan, as opposed to the Communist Party of Kazakhstan which is not fielding a candidate, is presenting a gritty, working class image to the voters with blue-collar workers posing in their mines and factories. Somewhat appropriately, their billboard is attached to the side of a building site.
The joker in the pack
The joker in the pack is Gani Kasymov, head of the pro-Nazarbayev Party of Patriots. Earlier in the campaign, he shied away from an interview with Radio Free Europe when he realised he would have to answer questions about what he stood for. His campaign poster reads cryptically “My way is the way of the people”. Is he being secretive or is it just that he doesn’t have any ideas?
Nauryz Kutty Bolsyn!
23 Mar
Nauryz poster in Almaty
This week has seen a three-day public holiday in Kazakhstan for the Nauryz celebrations. Nauryz marks the spring equinox, when day and night are equal, and for many it’s the start of a new year.
Kids enjoying a swing on an altybakan in Almaty
The holiday is an ancient one and is celebrated by peoples with Persian roots and in many other parts of the world such as Turkey, Pakistan, Central Asia, the Caucasus and north-western China.
Serving up a mean Nauryz kozhe in Almaty
In Kazakhstan the day is marked by drinking a milk-based soup, Nauryz kozhe, made with seven cereals such as barley, millet and wheat added according to taste.
Kazaxia 