Kazakhstan

Political Party Development

The International Republican Institute's (IRI) political party development program provides intensive assistance on party building in the areas of voter contact, developing constituent offices, improving party image and creating regional-level party structures. This program was designed to engage political parties between elections and helps regional party offices identify and incorporate into their platforms issues that are important to the electorate.

Focus Groups

IRI conducted eight focus groups composed of voting-age adults in four large and four small cities in different geographic sectors of Kazakhstan in March 2006 in order to get qualitative input on what they view as the country's priorities, issues of broad importance, and voters' perceptions of the parties.

The focus group questions were designed to understand positive and negative opinions about Kazakhstan's socio-economic conditions, evaluate how voters view the political process and governance, and measure the general level of impact of the political parties' name recognition and party programs. Focus group results are intended for the political parties' use in developing its message, image and strategy for growth.

Public Opinion Polling

In July 2004, IRI conducted the country's first nationwide poll of 1,997 Kazakhstani adults in advance of the September 2004 Majilis (parliamentary) election: 79 percent of those interviewed said that the country is on the right track; 60 percent said they were satisfied with the way democracy is developing in their country, while 29 percent are dissatisfied. Respondents thought the government should give priority to unemployment and new jobs (30 percent), social welfare (13 percent), national security and threat of terrorism (15 percent), and agriculture (11 percent).

In September 2005, IRI conducted a second nationwide survey of 1,500 voting age adults to gauge popular attitudes in advance of the December presidential election: 90 percent of those interviewed said that the country is on right track; 56 percent of the households noticed economic improvement, 36 percent said that their finances remained stable, and seven percent mentioned decline. Seventy-eight percent of respondents were satisfied with democracy development and 14 percent were not. Ninety percent of respondents were optimistic about the future, up eight points from the poll taken in 2004.

Since gaining independence in 1991, Kazakhstan has shown notable progress in political and economic development. President Nursultan Nazarbaev has stated his strategy to "base political reform on achievements in the economy. Otherwise, we may face collapse and complete destabilization." This approach has contributed to Kazakhstan's stability, relative to other countries in the region. While democracy-building initiatives have lagged behind economic ones, there are signs of political reform, such as a developing multi-party system, quasi-representative government at the national level and revisions to the election law (passed in March 2004).

Polling and the results of the December 4, 2005 presidential election show that President Nazarbaev has maintained support among a significant segment of the population, in part due to the country's economic growth and policies that have kept inter-ethnic and inter-religious relations peaceful. Reported human rights violations are chiefly in the area of freedom of the press. Media bias in favor of the President is prevalent and laws that disallow published information on or criticism of the President and his family effectively amount to censorship. Opposition media have disproportionately suffered from government scrutiny and interference in independent media distribution.

The December 4 presidential election showed progress in election administration, but the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which fielded a large group of election observers, described the election as falling short of international standards primarily due to limitations imposed on selected candidates during the campaign period. Demonstrations protesting the results were not allowed due to a law enacted in 2005 limiting freedom of assembly in the immediate period following an election.

According to IRI's 2004 and 2005 national opinion polls, government corruption and employment remained the chief issues of concern to Kazakhstanis. During the 2005 presidential campaign, President Nazarbaev promised a better future for his country. His re-election has given him the opportunity to continue the country's path of economic development and implement promised political reforms.

Political Overview

Chief of State: President Nursultan A. Nazarbayev

Type of Government: republic; authoritarian presidential rule

Suffrage: universal, age 18

Elections Calendar

Program Overview

Focus of Program: political party building

Funding Source: United States Agency for International Development