• Latest
  • Trending
  • All
  • News
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Science
  • World
  • Lifestyle
  • Tech

US Backing for Kazakhstan Remains Firm Despite Flawed Election

November 23, 2022
Rwandan National Apprehended for Operating Unauthorized Soft Drink Factory in Uganda

Rwandan National Apprehended for Operating Unauthorized Soft Drink Factory in Uganda

September 8, 2023
Among orders probe into shs 9 billion spent to teach Ugandans how to drink coffee

Among orders probe into shs 9 billion spent to teach Ugandans how to drink coffee

September 8, 2023
Speaker threatens to slash allowances for absentee MPs

Cure front-bench mischief by throwing ministers out

September 8, 2023
PICTORIAL: Celebrity actress Shadina Blunt has a blast in Uganda!

PICTORIAL: Celebrity actress Shadina Blunt has a blast in Uganda!

September 8, 2023
Kampala roads closed as Museveni marks 79th birthday – #ugnews24

Kampala roads closed as Museveni marks 79th birthday – #ugnews24

September 8, 2023
Samia Suluhu Faces Dollar Crisis Months After Trolling Broke & Begging Neighbour

Watch Ruto Exchange Banter With Suluhu Over Azimio

September 8, 2023

UNAA convention honours Kenzo for 10-year service – Kampala Sun

September 8, 2023

VOA Newscasts

September 8, 2023
Mayanja Brothers Live in Concert: Dates and venue revealed

Mayanja Brothers Live in Concert: Dates and venue revealed

September 8, 2023
Safe Boda launches ‘Plus Ride’ package to enable passengers get Shs1m insurance compensation in case of an accident

Safe Boda launches ‘Plus Ride’ package to enable passengers get Shs1m insurance compensation in case of an accident

September 8, 2023
NDA confirms presence of ARVs in pork and chicken feeds

NDA confirms presence of ARVs in pork and chicken feeds

September 8, 2023
Why are we even here if we can’t protect children?

How we got to accusations of fake bomb threats

September 8, 2023
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact
Monday, October 2, 2023
  • Login
  • Register
UGNEWS24
  • Home
    • Home – Layout 1
    • Home – Layout 2
    • Home – Layout 3
    • Home – Layout 4
    • Home – Layout 5
  • News
    • All
    • Business

    A beginner’s guide to the legendary Tim Tam biscuit, now available in America

    You can now play Bill Gates’ first PC game and run over donkeys on your iPhone, Apple Watch

    Indonesia’s largest fleet of taxis teams up to beat ride-hailing apps

    Instagram is testing photo albums, because nothing is sacred anymore

    7 February games you should get excited about

    Make yourself feel better by laughing at January’s best news bloopers

    Trump-May special relationship gets special treatment in the streets of London

    GoPro’s Karma drone is back on sale after design flaw made them fall out of the sky

    Of course this novelty ‘Final Fantasy’ fork is an oversized sword replica

    House Republicans Vote to End Rule Stopping Coal Mining Debris From Being Dumped in Streams

    Trending Tags

    • Donald Trump
    • Future of News
    • Climate Change
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
    • Flat Earth
  • Tech

    Trending Tags

    • Flat Earth
    • Sillicon Valley
    • Mr. Robot
    • MotoGP 2017
    • Golden Globes
    • Future of News
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
    • All
    • Food
    • Recipes
    • Travel

    Rap group call out publication for using their image in place of ‘gang’

    Meet the woman who’s making consumer boycotts great again

    New campaign wants you to raise funds for abuse victims by ditching the razor

    Betterment moves beyond robo-advising with human financial planners

    Trump’s H-1B Visa Bill spooks India’s IT companies

    Magical fish basically has the power to conjure its own Patronus

    Getting There is Half the FUN!

    Goa Tourism Appealing Visitors From Across the Globe

    Fontainebleau A Forgotten Treasure

    I know it hurts to say goodbye, but it is time for me to fly

    Trending Tags

    • Golden Globes
    • Mr. Robot
    • MotoGP 2017
    • Climate Change
    • Flat Earth
No Result
View All Result
UGNEWS24
No Result
View All Result

US Backing for Kazakhstan Remains Firm Despite Flawed Election

by admin
November 23, 2022
in Politics
0
491
SHARES
1.4k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter


Washington     — 
The United States reaffirmed Tuesday its support for the independence and territorial integrity of Kazakhstan despite the findings of international observers that a weekend presidential election fell well short of democratic standards.
“We look forward to working with President [Kassym-Jomart] Tokayev and his government to advance our common objectives,” said State Department spokesman Ned Price in a statement released two days after Tokayev cruised to victory against only token opposition with more than 81% of the vote.
“The United States also reiterates its unwavering support for Kazakhstan’s sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity, which has been the bedrock of our partnership for over 30 years,” Price said.
While pledging to work with Tokayev, whose country represents the largest U.S. business partner in Central Asia, the State Department concurred with the findings of an Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe observer group that judged the election seriously deficient.

Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev casts his ballot at a polling station in Astasna, Kazakhstan, Nov. 20, 2022.

The OSCE observers noted that Tokayev, who took over in 2019 from post-Soviet strongman Nursultan Nazarbayev, “stood as the joint candidate of all parliamentary parties and, in effect, was not meaningfully challenged in a low-key campaign.”
Tokayev will now serve a seven-year term at the helm of the strategically located Central Asian nation bordering Russia and China.
The OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) assessed political participation in the election as “significantly constrained, with limitations on fundamental freedoms.” The group’s preliminary statement noted that democratic safeguards were disregarded in voting and counting, undermining transparency.
Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry denounced the ODIHR report as “biased conclusions, demonstrating a complete unwillingness to recognize the development of the internal situation in our country.”
“The content of the OSCE/ODIHR’s statement demonstrates a lack of desire to develop long-term and constructive cooperation with Kazakhstan authorities, which will, undoubtedly, be taken into account,” Astana warned.
U.S.-based independent analysts joined the OSCE in expressing disappointment with the election, in which five other candidates for president were on the ballot, but none of them directly challenged Tokayev. He also did not debate any of the other candidates.
“This election was rushed,” said Gavin Helf from the U.S. Institute of Peace at a Caspian Policy Center discussion in Washington, stressing that “Tokayev’s guaranteed reelection is not going to help with external legitimacy in the West.”

A family attend a polling station to vote in Astana, Kazakhstan, Nov. 20, 2022.

William Courtney, America’s first ambassador to Kazakhstan, now at the RAND Corporation, said Tokayev has raised expectations at home and abroad with public promises of democratic reform. But this election, he said, changes nothing.
“Is government keeping up with civil society or is the gap between expectations and reality widening?” Courtney asked. “The election is a missed opportunity in the West, seen as fundamentally no different than other elections — snap election, no meaningful choices.”
Kazakhstan still lacks democratic institutions and an independent judiciary, he added, factors that are “important for investors as well as those interested in the political development of Kazakhstan.”
Experts saw parallels to balloting in neighboring countries, such as Uzbekistan, where President Shavkat Mirziyoyev was reelected in a similarly uncompetitive fashion last year. ODIHR has never called an election in any of the former Soviet republics of Central Asia free and fair, except for noting relative democratic progress in Kyrgyzstan.
Nevertheless, the United States is anxious to encourage reform in the oil-rich nation and perhaps exploit growing concerns about Russian territorial ambitions following Moscow’s attempt to forcibly annex parts of Ukraine, another former Soviet republic.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed support last month for a reform agenda introduced by Tokayev following anti-government protests in January that, according to Kazakhstan’s Chief Prosecutor, left 232 dead and hundreds detained.
The government did not permit an independent investigation, but Tokayev promised accountability, which Human Rights Watch and other groups say he has yet to deliver.
“Our country must shun a close-minded, inward-looking strategy, and look toward the future,” Tokayev wrote in Politico two months ago, claiming “a democratic mandate to implement a vision for a fairer, more open Kazakhstan.”

FILE – An election poster, in the background, is seen through a bus window in Almaty, Kazakhstan, Nov. 17, 2022.

He added that Kazakhstan “has always been a bridge between East and West, lying at the heart of the Silk Road. We have a 7,600-kilometer border with Russia, an 1,800-kilometer border with China, and extensive trading links with Europe and the rest of the world.”
Tokayev has promised “to decentralize decision-making, strengthen rule of law, increase international competitiveness, and ensure equal opportunities for every citizen.”
He claims a “new Kazakhstan” will leave its super-presidential system behind, elevate parliament and local administrations, and ease the registration of political parties, abolishing constraints on opposition.
But Western observers do not yet see the signs of progress.
“I think Tokayev very likely wants a more functional state, which ‘listens’ more to its population,” Helf, of the U.S. Institute of Peace, told VOA, but “this weekend’s election and the campaign that preceded it show that he’s not interested in meaningful political competition.”
“Tokayev would have won against any candidates who wanted to challenge him. His mandate would have been even more legitimate if he had allowed some opposition,” Helf said.
Richard Hoagland, a former U.S. ambassador to Kazakhstan, called at the Caspian Policy Center forum for deeper engagement with the country.
“If we want to raise our influence, the simplest way to do it is through high-level visits,” said Hoagland, who urged leading members of Congress and Cabinet secretaries to tour the region. No U.S. president has ever been to Central Asia.
“I don’t think we fully understand the background and mindset of these countries,” he said.
“There’s a tendency in Washington to keep fitting the situation through the prism of another issue: what Russia does in Central Asia, China’s influence in Central Asia, or the possibility of the Taliban expanding its influence through Central Asia,” rather than viewing the region on its own terms.
Wilder Alejandro Sanchez, president of Second Floor Strategies consultancy, noted that maintaining a strategic partnership with Washington is just of one of several competing foreign policy priorities for Kazakhstan.
He said these include managing deep ties with Russia and the implications of its war in Ukraine, not least migration of Russians to Kazakhstan; Chinese political and business pressure; and renewed interest from the European Union.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • More
  • Facebook

Like this:

Like Loading...
Tags: a kagoma bobi winebbc news bobi wine ugandabobi winebobi wine academic papersbobi wine agebobi wine and besigyebobi wine and familybobi wine and his familybobi wine and kenzobobi wine and musevenibobi wine arua newsbobi wine at cbsbobi wine bikwase kyagulanyibobi wine biographybobi wine bobi wangebobi wine breaking newsbobi wine breaking news todaybobi wine brothers and sistersbobi wine bukedde newsbobi wine bus duniabobi wine by farbobi wine byekwaasobobi wine byekwasobobi wine cbobi wine calorinalbobi wine campaignbobi wine carsbobi wine childrenbobi wine concertbobi wine concert 2020bobi wine contactsbobi wine credentialsbobi wine educationbobi wine housebobi wine in jinjabobi wine net worthbobi wine newsbobi wine news aljazeerabobi wine news bbcbobi wine news latestbobi wine news nowbobi wine news now livebobi wine news now todaybobi wine news todaybobi wine news today in ugandabobi wine news today videobobi wine news today youtubebobi wine news ugandabobi wine news updatesbobi wine news updates todaybobi wine news yesterdaybobi wine nonstopbobi wine online concertbobi wine songsbobi wine todaythe watchdog news ugandawatchdog latest news about hhwatchdog news appwatchdog news latestwatchdog news networkwatchdog news powaiwatchdog news south africawatchdog news sri lankawatchdog news ugandawatchdog news.orgwatchdog newspaperwatchdog newspaper imo statezambian watchdog news all today
Share196Tweet123
Previous Post

White House Urges Americans to Get COVID, Flu Shots Before Year-End

Next Post

King Charles III hosts South Africa’s Ramaphosa for first state visit of his reign – #ugnews24

admin

admin

Next Post
King Charles III hosts South Africa’s Ramaphosa for first state visit of his reign – #ugnews24

King Charles III hosts South Africa’s Ramaphosa for first state visit of his reign – #ugnews24

Leave a ReplyCancel reply

UGNEWS24

Copyright © 2017 JNews.

Navigate Site

  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Politics
    • Business
    • World
    • Science
  • Entertainment
    • Gaming
    • Music
    • Movie
    • Sports
  • Tech
    • Apps
    • Gear
    • Mobile
    • Startup
  • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Fashion
    • Health
    • Travel

Copyright © 2017 JNews.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
%d bloggers like this: