The Parties

At the close of registration in mid-August, twelve political parties were officially registered to fight the 2004 parliamentary election.

They were:

Otan (Fatherland)
Asar (All Together)
Ak Zhol
The Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan
The Communist Party
People’s Communist Party
The Civil Party
The Agrarian Party
Auyl (Village) Social Democrat Party
The Patriots’ Party
"Rukhaniyat"
The Democratic Party

Among those that contested the elections were three parties that regard themselves as being in opposition. The first, Ak-Zhol, is a pro-business party that has campaigned to make Akims (regional governors) directly elected rather than appointed by the President. The second, the Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DCK), is strongly anti-Nazarbayev and has campaigned to reduce economic dependence on the extraction industries. The third was the Communist Party.

Two electoral pacts were formed among the parties fighting the election. The Agrarian Party and the Civil Party established an alliance called AIST - the Agrarian & Industrial Alliance of Working People - while the Communist Party and the Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DCK) joined into an Opposition Block of Communists and DCK.

The leading left-wing parties were the two Communist parties (formerly a single party), the Party of Patriots and Auyl. The communists have traditionally been opposed to the government. Ak-Zhol and DCK, established in the last two years, are considered to be right-of-centre parties, while the DCK is in opposition. All the other parties declared themselves to be centrist. They all set out election policies that were broadly supportive of the President, although they criticized the government on the range of specific issues.

From the beginning of the campaign, public opinion polls showed that the most popular parties were Otan, Asar, and Ak-Zhol.

Otan was established in 1999 after the merger of several previously independent pro-presidential parties, and its goal has been to support political and economic reforms that aim to further democracy, the improvement of living standards, social equality, stability, and strengthening of ethnic and religious harmony. Otan is the strongest supporter of the policies of President Nazarbayev, who himself occupied the party chairmanship before becoming president.

Asar was founded in October 2003 by Dariga Nazarbayeva, the eldest daughter of the President. Since its inception, Asar has strongly supported the President’s plans to build an economically strong, democratic and social-oriented state based on the rule of law. Its emphasis, however, has been on the young, the aspiring middle class professionals and especially the socially vulnerable groups - including pensioners, the disabled and single mothers - regardless of social or ethnic origin.

Ak-Zhol was founded in January 2002 by a wing of the Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan, which later became a party in its own right. It represents the interests of a substantial portion of the country’s growing middle class involved in important sectors of the economy, for example the energy industry and other mineral resources that now are largely controlled by foreign investors. Party leaders are former or current high-level governmental officials, although Ak-Zhol presented itself as an opposition party for the elections.

The Civil and Agrarian Parties represent those involved in the extraction and agriculture and are strong supporters of the policy of the President.

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