KAZAKH ELECTION COMMISSION NIXES OPPOSITION REFERENDUM PROPOSAL
Kazakhstan's Central Election Commission (CEC) has rejected a proposal
by the opposition party Ak Zhol to conduct a nationwide referendum to
annul the results of 19 September parliamentary elections,
Interfax-Kazakhstan reported on 18 November. Ak Zhol co-Chairman Alikhan
Baimenov told a news conference in Almaty on 18 November that the CEC
decided that three of the referendum's six questions failed to meet
legal requirements and that the number of initiative group members in
some regions -- another legal requirement -- was fewer than 30 people.
Baimen called the claims "groundless," and said that Ak Zhol plans to
appeal the decision. DK