Political parties of Kazakhstan: structure and functions

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:54

In the past few years, a number of significant transformations can be observed in various areas of Kazakhstan. At the same time, it should be borne in mind that such changes in economic and social formations also entail major political reforms. That is why it is impossible not to note the currently existing party system and political parties in Kazakhstan. Previously, the country, which was directly subordinate to the Soviet Union, gradually became an independent sovereign state, in which one can observe a democratic regime and the development of the institutions of the political system. The emergence of various political parties and social movements in Kazakhstan gave the country a new round of development, where the authorities stopped using totalitarian methods of government and significantly reorganized the entire system of political power.

Historical background

Before talking about the current stage of the formation and development of political parties, we should pay attention to bygone days. The political parties of Kazakhstan at the beginning of the 20th century began to form by 1917. specialattention should be paid to just a couple of them, who played a very prominent role in the political life of the country.

Party "Alash"

It was "Alash" that became the first political party of the Republic of Kazakhstan. It began to function in July 1917, after the congress was held in the city of Orenburg. Its first political demands are the national and territorial autonomy of the country, which would still remain part of a democratic Russia. Also, representatives of the party demanded freedom of speech, press, universal suffrage and a radical revision of the agrarian reform in favor of the Kazakhs. This party did not last long, because it took a course towards capitalism, that is, following the path of the West, which did not sharply correlate with the policy of the Bolsheviks who came to power. Despite all this, during its existence the party enjoyed great popularity, even printed its own newspaper. Its main tenets were secular education, equality of all citizens of the country, a republican form of government and support for the poor. The party leaders ended their lives very badly - by order of the USSR authorities, they were shot back in the 30s.

Ush zhuz

Unlike the previous political party of Kazakhstan, this one was socialist. She was the main opposition to "Alash" and relied on the pro-Bolshevik strata of the population. It was this party that at one time helped the Soviet government to gain the leading role in the country, but after that it also did not last long, it was abolished already in 1919.year. Its main actors then went directly to the Bolsheviks.

Small parties of the early 20th century

Besides the two dominant oppositions, there were other political parties and movements in Kazakhstan in public life.

The "Shuro-i-Islamia" party was intended to protect the rights of exclusively the indigenous population of Turkestan. Its ideology was based on the idea of federalism.
The Ittifok-i-Muslimin Party proposed to recreate the autonomous country of Turkestan as part of Russia. This political party of Kazakhstan relied mainly on representatives of the Muslim clergy, but at the same time, democratic principles were clearly manifested in party documents - universal free primary education, a single tax and an 8-hour working day.
The Cadets, in defiance of everyone, offered to create a constitutional monarchy, because it was the guarantor of a united and indivisible Russia. They also offered to continue the resettlement policy.
SRs at the beginning of their appearance in Kazakhstan had a certain popularity because of their condemnation of colonial policy. They proposed to distribute all the available land to the property of the people.

This is how the picture of political parties and movements in Kazakhstan looked like at the time of its inception. Unfortunately, after the creation of the USSR, the idea of a political system practically lost its meaning and was little used due to the dominant position of just one party.

The current state of affairs

Modern political parties in Kazakhstan, like almost any other state, are distinguished by the complexity and diversity of the structural elements on the basis of which they exist and function. Their existence is primarily stipulated in the Constitution, which fully guarantees all rights for parties, movements and other associations, with the exception of those whose activities are aimed at forcibly changing the existing constitutional order, as well as those wishing to incite racial, class, religious or other types of violence.

At the same time, the state itself does not have the right to directly interfere in the internal affairs of parties or other public associations. That is why we can safely say that the country's policy is aimed at further democratization of all social processes.

Law "On political parties of the Republic of Kazakhstan"

A new round in the development of political parties began after the adoption of a new law in 2002. It was he who was supposed to regulate, regulate and streamline the course of building party life in the country. It not only describes the basic rights and guarantees that political parties and movements have in a modern state, but also defines the lower threshold for membership that is required for the subsequent formation of a party. Initially, it was equal to 50 thousand people, but the limit was cut (equal to only 40 thousand). After the adoption of the new legislation, the state obliged all parties existing in the country to re-register within six monthsofficially, which ceased the operation of a number of political organizations. At the moment, there are only 6 officially registered political parties in Kazakhstan, which exert their influence on the country's foreign and domestic policy.

Nur Otan Party

This movement is the largest political party in Kazakhstan since the 20th century. "Light of the Fatherland" - this is how its name is translated. It was founded by the current president of the country, Nursultan Nazarbayev, so it has strong pro-presidential roots. Since its formation in 1999, it has become the largest political force in modern Kazakhstan, immediately capturing the majority of seats in parliament.

The ideological policy of this party is aimed primarily at praising the head of state himself and the course of development he has adopted. The doctrine of Elbasy (in the translation from the Kazakh "head of state") is as follows:

gradual strengthening of the country's independence;
a strong centralized policy that takes the individual as the main value;
unity and supremacy of the law over every living person in the country, regardless of his we alth and status;
a strong middle class that will be the backbone of the economy and the public;
preservation of the identity of the population, the preservation of traditions and the development of the Kazakh language;
multi-vector foreign policy of the country;
state support for vulnerable segments of the population, constant fight against corruption;
direction to the development of environmentally friendly technologies and energy saving.

In many ways, this party is considered oppositional, totalitarian and pseudo-democratic, as it preaches the personality cult of the president. Accused several times of electoral fraud.

Birlik Party

The political party of Kazakhstan "Birlik" means "unity". It only started operating in 2013. Perhaps that is why it still does not have its own clearly formulated ideology. In the last elections, she had less than one percent of the vote, so she did not even get into parliament and took the very last place. Her messages to the people during this period focused exclusively on improving the social and environmental spheres. That is why this party is considered to be eco-socialist among the people.

Party "Ak Zhol"

Currently considered to be in opposition to the country's ruling party. Its ideology is based on liberalism, since it was formed on the basis of the Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan social movement. The motto fully embodies the ideals: independence for the country, absolute democracy, freedom and justice for every segment of the population.

Party "Auyl"

The party itself and its chairman Ali Bektaev rely on people's democratic politics. She also cannot play a special role in politics, since she could not get into parliament. Social Democratic Ideologypreaches strong state administration and regulation of all spheres, enhanced support for the agricultural sector and ordinary villagers. However, at the same time, she also wants to quickly introduce political and economic reforms into everyday life, which will not only stabilize democracy in the country, but also improve the living standards of the citizens of Kazakhstan.

Communist Party

Is one of the three parties that were able to get into the country's parliament in the last elections. Its ideology is based on the principle of real democracy and universal justice. At the same time, spirituality and freedom should be widely spread, but with the prosperity of the economy and scientific and technological progress.

Key policies:

struggle for further democracy, the building of the People's Republic, the recognition of all forms of property except those that exploit people;
state ownership of the main economic sectors, moving away from the resource-based economy that prevails in the country at the moment, the introduction of the most modern technologies in the industrial sector;
extension of social guarantees for the entire population to reach the level that existed before the collapse of the USSR;
fight against terrorism, international cooperation, communication with the CIS countries.

National Social Democratic Party

This political movement also refers to those opposed to the dominant party of the country. Starting from yourEstablished in 2007, the party is consistently working to recreate a social democratic society in the country based on the principles of 3 "C": "Freedom, Solidarity and Justice". In addition, the main goal is to build a democratic, social state with a strong innovative economy and humanitarian policy.

Basic dogmas:

establishing a moratorium on any sale of land;
equitable distribution of income from the results of the sale of raw materials;
reducing the retirement age to 59 with an increase in pensions;
creating multiple jobs to overcome unemployment;
free educational system at any stage;
quality and affordable he althcare;
rural infrastructure development, lower taxes for small and medium businesses;
fair and alternative elections with full transparency (in particular, this rule is directed against the presidential party, which won more than 80% of the vote in the last election);
a fair and incorruptible system of courts and law enforcement.

As can be seen, despite the evolving dynamics of political parties and movements in modern Kazakhstan, only one pro-presidential party dominates, which has the most seats in parliament. It is she who has the main political influence on foreign and domestic policy. At the same time, the opposition parties also have fairly strong programs, but a specialno impact.