"Corruption is afraid of transparency.." Shouted the First Deputy Prime Minister Omurbek Babanov of Kyrgyzstan.

The government has recently launched its anti-corruption website. An instrument to combat daily acts of corruption, a platform for whistle blowers, and more importantly a high-end transparency tool. Currently Kyrgyzstan ranks 164 in the 2010 Corruption Perceptions Index, which is published annually by Transparency International. Since the government's harsh stance on corruption was started the state treasury has seen a positive growth of more than 22 million soms ($463,000). This is one more example of e-governance enabling positive results for the progress of democracy and transparency. Kyrgyzstan has had a tumultous history of nepotism and overpowering corruption. The current president Roza Otunbayeva has vowed to rid the government of such acts, and more importantly initiated modern techniques to combat age-old problems. Visit Anticorr to report anything you might see as wrong, or just visit to show your respect for democracy.

Recently there has been some interesting opinions coming out of Nazarbayev's native village. According to local legend, and glossy magazine gossip, Nazarbayev's grandmother had a prophetic dream when Nursultan was just a little Kazaczek.In the dream Nursultan was riding a white horse through the clouds, this inspired his grandmother to wake up the next morning and make a sacrifice to Allah. She asked God to make her grandson "wise and spiritually rich to serve his people". Through the power of propaganda and historical fabrication the Nazarbayev camp has been successful in creating local legends to justify his ruling. Today there is a museum dedicated to him, there is a very complex family tree that has been created linking him to many other great figures in history, and 'Life and Deeds of the First President' is required reading at all schools in Kazakhstan. There is one thing to admire and recognize one person's achievements, but it is another to be placed on the same level as a Pope. Nazarbayev has been successful in courting world leaders, bringing his country to optimal economic standards, and one could even say a diamond in the rough of the post-soviet republics. Now is the time to address social conditions, social progress, and the needs of the people. Islamic banks are moving in and industries are flourishing, the future looks hazy but promising. If anything, Nursultan will win this election not by the power of intelligent voting, but by the power of the simple masses and their masters.

It might not be as important as Kate and William's soon to be wedding, but can they boast that they are marrying for peace? Can they say their marriage is uniting conflict stricken peoples? I think not. Allow me to introduce the first beneficiaries of the Kyrgyz cash for peace program that was initiated in the southern city of Kara-Suu. Arsten Kalbaev, and ethnic Kyrgyz, and Zilola Jamalidinova, an ethnic Uzbek, have come together to profess their love for one another and peace.

The program was initially started to persuade local teachers from leaving the region. By giving them financial incentives, a whopping 100,000 soms ($2,100),and a chance to create the best PR for Kyrgyzstan the people jumped right to it. The local mayor was quoted as saying that his ambitions were to "strengthen interethnic concord in the district". Later on the program was extended to offer the same benefits to all mixed couples.

In mid-June last year, violent clashes between Uzbeks and Kyrgyz in the southern region of Osh and Jalal-Abad killed more than 400 people.

In the upcoming days we will start to see more preparations for the Nowruz celebrations. Primarily a holiday that is celebrated by people of Persian backgrounds,and extends as far as Albania and Kosovo. In Tajikistan and other Central Asian countries the festivities before the 20th of March start with Buzkashi games. The term Buzkashi means 'goat grabbing' and it involves players on horseback, called Chapandaz,galloping through a field at amazing speeds fighting over a decapitated dead goat. The goal of the game is to successfully pick up the goat and clear it over the other teams goal line. The game has no other rules, there is no protection worn on the players and horses; and strangely enough it has no rounds or time limits. Here is a clip of a game going into full action:



In recent news there has been a lot of publicity given to the famous Persian poet Rudaki. Born in the village of Rudak (Panjurd) in Khorasan, now located in Tajikistan, Rudaki was the first great literary genius of the modern Persian language who composed poetry in "New Persian," which is written in the Perso-Arabic alphabet script. Now the great Rudaki can be found in four different languages. The cultural ministries of Tajikistan and Iran have gotten together to translate a selection of his poetry from 858 to 941. The languages that were chosen were, English, Russian and also incorporating the Cyrillic alphabet into the translations. This has been good news in Tajik-Iranian relations considering there has been plenty of animosity towards each other in the past few years. There was even speculations that modern relations between the two countries would be cut with no chance of reconciliation. There was even loud speculations within the Tajik government that Rakhmonov would not receive the yearly invite from Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. It was announced yesterday that the invite was given along with President Karzai, the three will celebrate Nowruz in Iran.

Some of the actions initiated from the Tajik side were putting up red lights in international circles, especially the Tajik's government call for all Tajik student to abandon their education in Iran and other Middle Eastern countries to come back to Tajikistan. The main underlying reason for this was Rakhmonov's anti-terrorism strategy. The country has been going through many reforms to try to phase out any chance for terrorist-like activity. The problem here is that the government is very subjective in their interpretation of what is terrorist-like and not what the international community would approve. By pulling out the students from Iran the Tajik government made a firm stance against extremist actions and views, inciting speculation that Tajikistan regards Iran as a extremist country. Many other Central Asian countries have been instantiating similar programs, mainly to avoid what their counterpart republics have been going through, i.e. Chechnya.

Also in recent news Kazakhstan has started construction on a solar panel plant. The city of Astana will be the new home of Kazatomprom Solar Panel Plant. The project will cost 33 to 34 billion tenge (233 million US dollars). The company has projected a 50 MW worth of solar cell panels on a yearly basis, and a future expansion to 100 MW. Kazatomprom is Kazakhstan's national operator for exports of uranium and its compounds, rare metals, nuclear power plant fuel, special equipment, and dual-use materials.

All the big names of the Kazakh pop world have come together to create a medley entitled 'Vote for Kazakhstan (Проголосуй за Казахстан)'. The song is primary is Kazakh with a few lines in Russian. The significance of the song is that the opposition parties in Kazakhstan are calling for a boycott in the elections claiming that the surprise call for elections by president Nazarbayev hindered their chances of preparing properly. A lot of people in Kazakhstan have been accused of being apathetic to the current politics of the state. Many young people have been voicing their discontent for the current regime and their unwillingness to accept this current election as legitimate. I personally believe that because fort the first time in Kazakh history the government has invited 60 OSCE delegates to monitor the elections we might just get a positive ruling by the end of this month and if anything this song might just stir up some action among the younger crows. Election boycotts do not work in practical terms, they only work in principle. So go out and vote! (but you won't find Kazakhstan on the ballot, you'll find a dictator, communist, environmentalist, and a Patriot choose one carefully and push hard).

The song includes a forward by two of the pop singers, and here are some of the lyrics translated into English:

"You choose the right to live in a bright world.
Do not be aloof; it is you who decides your country's fate....
Your motherland's tomorrow is in your hands.
Don't be timid on the path of your life.
Shine like a flame, like the star of your country's independence.
If our unity is really strong, our star will be really high
And may our wings take us as far as we want!"

Here is the video (it reminds me of French-Canadian stage sing-alongs) enjoy:

Ever since the great people of Kazakhstan have petitioned their government to extend the great leaders office term we have been on a roller coaster ride of epic proportions. Nazarbayev has modestly rejected these proposals and has called on early elections in order to create a fair consensus amongst his people. Since the call for elections there has been more than 22 candidates who saw themselves as the top dog, interestingly enough we had a large female turnout in the early stages. Now the official number has been trimmed down to 4 active candidates who have been deemed as worthy by the election committee of Kazakhstan. As of today the platforms of each candidates has been finalized and the talking heads have taken off on a tour of interviews, fundraisers, baby smooching, and the occasional photo-op with the prettiest horse in town.

Before the official kick off of the 2011 election there were reports made by Radio Free Europe and the NGO Kaznet Freedom that many websites have been shut down or temporarily suspended by the government. Observers have noticed a pattern sweeping the Central Asian countries since the massive political unrest in the Middle East has broken out. There were 14 websites reported as blocked or limited viewing capability, some of which were social media websites like blogger.com, wordpress.com and the opposition website Eurasia.org.ru. Majority of websites in Kazakhstan go through two main servers operated by KazTeleCom and Nursat. These companies have been found in the past to collaborate with the central authorities and have been very active in the censorship of internet material within the Kazakh borders. There was one very important point made by a commenter named Michael from Astana on the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty website, he stated that this kind of activity happens on a regular basis and one way to get around this is for websites to start producing full articles in RSS feeds. The ability to access censored material like blogs and media websites can be overcome by ways of RSS feeds through Google reader.



Nazarbayev has started off his campaign with the typical political agenda, lowering poverty rate by 6% and reduce unemployment to 5%. The other pledges he has made are to increase the average lifetime to 72 years and cut maternal and infant mortality by half. Both of which I personally believe, as well as others, such factors as average life span and maternal/infant rates are long-term initiatives and are heavily influenced by economic activity and least influenced by political agenda. This call for average lifespan coincides with Nazarbayev's personal obsession with immortality, as has been reported in the past by different media sources, Nazerbayev works tirelessly to find the best scientists the world has to offer to create an elixir that would help him in governing his country for decades to come. The platform for Nur-Otan (Nazarbayev's Party) is based on past mistakes and past promises that have not yet been filled. The party has announced an agenda called 'Country's Development Program 2020' and has created a slogan for the 2011 election: 'Let's Build A Future Together.' The one interesting point that I have read from the Nazarbayev's camp is that they are planning on pushing an agenda of offering stocks to the public from the countries largest companies. Seems that Nur-Oten is the only group who has interest in furthering the position of Kazakh businesses with capitalist initiatives.



The Patriots Party led by Gani Kasimov has been the most original and unique in its initiatives. The party has opened its' platform with plans to upgrade all branches of government, transform into a presidential-parliamentary form of government, and abolish all regional establishments. The government would then work directly with with regional administrations through the ministries. This agenda seems to be very unique in that it calls for a complete revamp of the present establishment, a gutsy road for one man in a small group. The other points that the Patriots Party have highlighted are the reintroduction of collective farming (to this date this system has not worked effectively in any part of the world) and the right for women to retire at 55. Gani has expressed many drastic changes that his party would like to make, other points of interest is the elimination of taxes on home-production level businesses and the imposition of a special tax on foreign labor. The Gani camp has focused heavily on the function of the government and how to improve in the effectiveness of its role for the Kazakh people. Many will criticize him for being so theoretical but there is something to be said about a man who welcomes reforms that enable efficiency and encourages internal growth with the goal of international competition in mind. Gani's party has insisted on taking urgent steps to revive historical heritage and national culture, furthering a quasi-nationalist agenda that would focus on Kazakhness in a very shallow and manufactured light.



Mels Elevsizov who is the leader of the Environmental Union - or in Kazakh 'Tabigat' - has been the only self promoting candidate in the 2011 election. Elevsizov's camp has been focusing on social media networks to spread its message and raise campaign funds the groups headline reads, "New Line, New Way." The main points that the party has made so far is that it sees Russia as the only priority in Kazakhstan's foreign policy initiatives. The party has also expressed its dissatisfaction with Kazakhstan joining W.T.O., citing the countries infant stages in production levels and its improper allocations of human resources to achieve international standards. Elevsizov also called for the elimination of citizen resettling programs that bring people into the cities and out of the rural villages. He has stated that agendas like this are not in line with societal progress and would only benefit politicians egos, the party recommends instead to raise living standards in remote areas of Kazakhstan to further overall stability. The foundation of his campaign is based on nature, conservancy, environmental awareness, and proper allocation of natural resources.


"Authorities Have Power, We Have The Truth!" cries Zhambyl Ahmetbekov who is a member of the present Kazakhstan Communist Party and the fourth and last candidate in the 2011 election. Mr. Zhambyl vows that he and his party will find a way to redistribute the country's natural resources in the most appropriate fashion. He wants to restore state control over energy, oil, mining, railway, and majority of the transport sectors. There is also talk that the party wants to introduce legislation that would halt the export of cotton, wool, wood, and raw-stock. This believe is rooted in the assumption that Kazakhstan has been distributing its natural resources inefficiently and too many outside interests have benefited from Kazakhstan and not enough internal markers have been achieved. The remedy for this problem, as stated by Ahmetbekov, is to set quotas on the exports of ferrous and non-ferrous metals, and expanding production of metal domestically. To sum up the platform for Ahmetbekov is less than a few words is to say that he believes in old-communist principles (tried and failed) and truly believes that an isolationist ideology is the best option for a growing nation like Kazakhstan.

The candidates have only until April 1 to propose and reiterate their platforms. After the 3rd of April the will of the people will choose the next president of Kazakhstan. For the first time in Kazakh history 60 OSCE PA Deputies have been assigned to the elections and Tonino Picula has been assigned as the head of the mission. Lets us hope for a fair and smooth transition of power and for peace and prosperity in Central Asia.

The campaigning has started off with a full swing and massive international attention in Kazakhstan. The betting has started to see who of the few that are brave enough to oppose the 'leader' of the Kazakh people Nazarbaev will actually have a chance at gaining numbers in the polls. Originally the central election committee started out with 22 candidates, these candidates had to raise 90,000 signatures to even be considered; and to top it of pass a Kazakh language test. Unfortunately like most of us in this world Kazakh does not come easy to us, about 11 of the candidates did not pass the language test and have been disqualified. The remaining few are, the eccentric Gandi Qasymov who has been the most outspoken individual in this race; frequently making outlandish comments just to be on the front page news. The second man of the hour is Zhambyl Akhmetbekov who is the secretary of the Peoples Communist Party. Zhambyl has admitted that his party has very little money to play with ($135,000) and will be heavily focusing on social media and other forms of web based platforms. The last candidate is Mels Eleusizov who is Kazakhstan's most notable ecologists. Mels is the head of the Tabighat (Nature) environmental organization and has publicly stated that his party has little to nothing in campaigning money, therefore they will rely solely on the financing of the central elections committee. Apart from the two latter candidates the outspoken Gani seems to have a chance at advancing in the polls, interestingly enough Nazarbaev has refused to partake in the physical aspects of campaigning and has assigned people from his party to do all the campaigning foot work. There has also been some dissatisfied candidates that have been disqualified due to whatever reason. Serik Saparghali has tried to organize a press conference to announce his dissatisfaction with the present race and to call for Azerbaev's resignation. Unfortunately the authorities have refused to allow this sort of media attention and he was forced to hold a makeshift press meet outside.

There are a couple of interesting points to make with the Kazakh election in its' early stages. The fact that Nazarbaev has officially called for an early election would make you think that there is something up his sleeve. But as I have predicted before the middle east uprising have inspired a lot of king of the hill dictators (the smart ones) to rearrange their positions and try to appease to the blood thirsty crowds (or in this case hungry crowds). The call for election not only takes the media attention away from Libya and Yemen it also brings new headlines for society to squabble about. If anything this is something that most politicians should have done in order to either save themselves or the stability of a country/region. The other point that needs to be addressed is the complete apathy that Nazarbaev has shown towards his camp. He has refused to meet with people, he has very little to say about the election in general. It is almost like the 70 year old is loosening his grip on the state and slowly transferring it to someone else. But as we say in Poland 'he'll only give it up through his teeth', and someone will have to fight him for that special seat. So there are two outcomes here, either he transfers the power to someone else (in the direct-indirectly kind of fashion)or he will push for another couple more years. The disgruntled candidate Serik made a very good point at his outdoor gathering, "I do not believe that a man, who was not able to run a country properly before he reached 70, will be able to run the country after he is 70." The candidates have till April 1 to wine and dine the people of Kazakhstan, anyone care for a Nazarbaev key chain?

There have been many attempts to bring peace to our world, our countries, our villages, and even our homes. But the latest attempt by the Kyrgyz government is in my opinion one of the most interesting and perplexing. The federal government of Kyrgyzstan has initiated a proposal to combat low birth rates and the ongoing tension between its neighbors. The proposal specifically targets teachers, mainly due to the fact that teachers in Kyrgyzstan are the lowest paid state employees, around $63 a month. The proposal calls for soon to be married individuals to consider prospective partners from other countries, in this case Uzbeks. If a teacher marries an Uzbek he or she will receive 100,000 Som ($2,000), a pretty hefty reward for a 'small' act for peace. The government has at the moment only promised this sum, but time will only tell if these couples will live the life of international peace and short term luxury. So if this unique take on peace-building takes off, I propose we recommend it to our friends in the Balkans, Kosovar-Serbian marriages for $2,000 a piece. A small price tag to our friends at USAID, for a lifetime of conflict ridden babies.

It's interesting that these politicians are wasting their time on legislation of this kind. They don't focus on political/economic reform so people would have a natural inclination to pursue peace and avoid conflict. When you give your people a chance to make a livable wage, a chance to prosper socially, and a willingness to progress; then ridiculous procreation-cross-border political agendas will become unnecessary.