From: Justin Burke (JBurke@sorosny.org)
Date: Mon Nov 15 2004 - 09:28:49 EST
Kazakhstan seeks to repair "tainted image" in wake of election - Russian
paper
Kazakhstan is trying to restore its image abroad after numerous
criticisms of the conduct of the September parliamentary elections, a
Russian daily has said. To this end, articles praising Kazakhstan's
democratic development were published in influential Western
publications. The Kazakh authorities are also seeking to convince
Russian journalists of the country's "post-electoral wellbeing", the
paper said. The following is the text of report by Aynur Khasenova
entitled "The most important thing is what the journalists write;
Kazakhstan tries to use upbeat publications to repair its tainted image"
and published Russian newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta on 10 November;
subheadings inserted editorially:
After mass criticism of the parliamentary elections that have been held
in Kazakhstan the country's authorities have gambled upon trying to
generate a positive image of Kazakhstan abroad. A group of Russian
journalists has been in the republic since the start of this week.
Officially their arrival is scheduled to coincide with the Russian Press
Days within the framework of Russia's Year in Kazakhstan. Essentially
the Kazakh authorities are making every effort to show the Russian
journalists the country's post-electoral wellbeing.
Kazakhstan needs positive image
It should be noted that for Kazakhstan the formation of a healthy image
is now more important than it has ever been. Both the foreign media and
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe [OSCE] observers
have been sharply critical of the electoral process. Meanwhile
Kazakhstan is not abandoning its intention to hold the chair of this
organization in 2009. Therefore the question of the country's image in
the eyes of the international community is assuming top priority.
Articles in Western press
Over recent weeks five of the largest press publications of the United
States and Western Europe - the Wall Street Journal , the International
Herald Tribune , the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the Financial Times
and Le Monde - have published enormous whole-page articles signed by the
Senate of the Republic of Kazakhstan. In particular, these articles
state: "Today Kazakhstan has a modern electoral mechanism with debates
between all parties, transparent ballot boxes and a successful attempt
to introduce electronic voting. More than 900 international observers
have witnessed the transparent voting process live. And what is the
result? Out of almost 700 candidates from 12 parties there is only one
winner: Democracy."
These publications caused quite a stir in Kazakh political life. After
all, according to the calculations of the opposition these publications
cost almost 1m dollars. The identity of the "authors" of these
statements came as something of a surprise. In an interview with the
Kazakh weekly Vremya the leader of the Senate apparatus, Yerzhan
Utembayev, announced that certain "well-wishers" in western business
circles had paid for the publications. Naturally, such an explanation
served only to generate new questions. Deputies from the lower house
[Majlis] even appealed to the republic's National Security Committee
requesting clarification as to the identity of these "friends of the
republic".
Russian journalists courted in Kazakhstan
However, everything seems to suggest that the authorities have drawn
their conclusions and have now decided to demonstrate to the Russian
press a Kazakhstan without opposition. For two days -Monday and Tuesday
[8 and 9 November] -the Russian journalists were in the southern capital
- Almaty. They took part in a seminar "Modern Trends in the Development
of the Media of Russia and Kazakhstan" and met students from the
Al-Farabi Kazakh National University (the university is better known as
KazGU). They visited the agency Khabar (News) - the largest television
channel in the republic which until recently was headed by the eldest
daughter of the country's president, Dariga Nazarbayeva - and the
newspaper Megapolis (part of the "31" media holding. According to the
latest rumours, this is going to be bought by the "Aluminium magnate"
Aleksandr Mashkevich).
In addition, a Kazakh press exhibition was organized specially for the
Russian journalists. Virtually all publications were represented, with
the exception of those in opposition, and these are not very numerous in
Kazakhstan - just three weekly Russian-language publications. These are
the newspaper Respublika , which is closed with enviable regularity - no
less than once per quarter - the newspaper Soz (Word) and the newspaper
Vremya.
Journalists from these three newspapers were not invited to meet their
Russian colleagues. And indeed, when the Russian press met their
colleagues from the "regular" media they did so under the watchful eye
of the vice-minister of information, culture and sport, Ardak Doszhan.
He is the man responsible for giving Kazakhstan a positive image in the
Russian press. To visiting journalists he is simultaneously a guide,
tour guide and raconteur. Today [10 November] the Russian journalists
will fly to Astana. Official ceremonies await them there... [ellipsis as
published] and also Kazakh opposition journalists, who are resolute in
their determination to force their way into the meeting with their
colleagues despite all prohibitions.
Source: Nezavisimaya Gazeta, Moscow, in Russian 10 Nov 04
BBC Mon CAU 131104 nu/fbis
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