Next time you're tucking into a juicy halal sausage in Kazakhstan, double-check to make sure you aren't taking a bite out of Tiddles.
Speaking to fellow Majilis deputies, Bagila Baimagambetova said April 14 that tests on some halal goods have revealed them to contain pig and even cat meat, according an Express-K newspaper report (via CA-News).
Baimagambetova then posed a question that suggested this meat-related confusion might have been prompted by theological incomprehension: "Don't meat producers know that the Kazakh Muslims do not eat pork?"
Or cat, apparently. (For our non-British audience, Tiddles is the feline equivalent of Rex.)
The episode offers insights into the life of a parliamentary deputy in a one-party state, where serious legislative questions are afforded little debate.
Another example this week: In the Pavlodar city parliament, deputy Askar Bakhralinov is sounding the alarm over the practice of cybersquatting on Kazakhstani Internet domains.
Express-K reports, for example, that Tokyo resident Masakuzu Nakamura got his mitts on www.sex.kz back in 2002 and is waiting for somebody to hand him $50,000 before he relinquishes it. Filipp Gross from Moscow, meanwhile, was ironically reluctant to inform the paper how much he wanted for www.money.kz, the paper reported.
Bakhralinov suggest slapping taxes on the sites as a way of earning the state some profits, at least, but hosting experts say that proposal is a non-starter.
Now, how much is www.excitable-deputies.kz going for these days?
Sign up for Eurasianet's free weekly newsletter. Support Eurasianet: Help keep our journalism open to all, and influenced by none.