Text of report by the Kazakh news agency Interfax-Kazakhstan on
21st September

Almaty, 21st September: In Kazakhstan, the former secretary of
the Security Council of the republic and now an independent
candidate for a deputy of the parliament, Baltash Tursumbayev,
in his open address, has urged the head of state, Nursultan
Nazarbayev, to intervene "in the arbitrariness created by his
obsequious subordinates".

The text of the address was sent to the
Interfax-Kazakhstan news agency on Tuesday [21st September].
The course of the election campaign shows, the candidate
notes, the authorities in the provinces "have still not learnt
to strictly adhere to the spirit and letter of the law".
"Persecution has been organized" against independent
candidates, Tursumbayev states [in that address], they have
been "denied access" to television and radio broadcasting
[stations] and newspapers, "under various pretexts" meetings
with voters are being blocked, and on the authorities' command,
campaign posters stuck on in crowded places are being torn down
.
Tursumbayev notes that "local authoriteis are doing a
clearly rough job, without even bothering to collate their
unconsidered actions with the law".
The parlaiamentary candidate's address to the head of
state says: "You said on many ocasions, from various platforms,
that parliamentary elections here in our country would be
honest and fair. So, come on, intervene in the arbitrariness
created by your obsequious subordinates. You know perfectly
well that one word from you would be enough."

In Tursumbayev's words "the rank of a deputy is not higher
than the posts" he has held. "My goal is not this post but a
chance, may be the last one, to change something in our state
before it is too late," Tursumbayev emphasized.

Tursumbayev was registered as a candidate to a deputy of
the Majlis (the lower chamber) of the parliament in the
Kustanay South electoral district (in the north of the
republic).

In the period from February 1992 to November 1993
Tursumbayev held the post of agriculture minister. From October
1995 to October 1996 he was secretary of the Security Council
of Kazakhstan. After that Tursumbayev worked as a special envoy
of Kazakhstan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and then headed
Kazakhstan's diplomatic mission in Turkey. Tursumbayev's latest
post was that of deputy prime minister, of which he was
relieved in January this year following the constitutional
resignation of the government after the presidential elections.

Elections to Kazakhstan's Majlis are scheduled for 10th
October.

Source: Interfax-Kazakhstan news agency, Almaty, in Russian
1250 gmt 21 Sep 99
BBC Mon CAU 210999/** AJBA/AK