In this issue:
Prime Minister Resigns Over Land Reform Dispute...
... While Council Rules Draft Land Code Complies with Constitution, Clearing Way for Signature
Kazakhstan Provides Second Airport for Antiterrorist Coalition
EBRD President Commends Kazakhstan's Innovation Program
Astana Celebrates Five Years as Capital
Prime Minister Resigns Over Land Reform Dispute
Prime Minister Imangali Tasmagambetov announced his resignation at a special government session on June 11 in Astana after a standoff with the Parliament over land privatization.
46-year-old Imangali Tasmagambetov, who headed the Government since January 2002, said the row with the Parliament over private land ownership had highlighted a major rift between the two branches of power.
"I have tendered my resignation to the head of state," he told the meeting, adding that the lower house of Parliament "had proven its total inconsistency and inability to deepen economic reforms."
In May the Government, in disagreement with several of the amendments introduced in the draft Land Code by the lower house, Majilis, has asked for a vote of confidence. It said the amendments, if adopted would stall the much-needed land privatization in an agricultural sector. While Kazakhstan is a growing industrial and service-oriented economy, 40 percent of its population still live in rural areas and work in the agribusiness.
While the Government did win the vote and managed to push through its version of land privatization, the voting in Parliament revealed that the majority of the deputies in the lower house 55 out of 77 - voted for no-confidence.
President Nursultan Nazarbayev accepted the resignation in a June 11 decree, which means that the entire Government is considered dismissed. The decree also asked all the current ministers to continue on as acting leaders of the respective departments until the new government is formed. The Presidential office said the head of state would announce the candidature of the new Prime Minister at a joint session of Parliament on Friday June 13.
... While Council Rules Draft Land Code Complies with Constitution, Clearing Way for Signature
The Constitutional Council said on June 10 the draft land code, instituting private farmland ownership, complies with the Constitution "both in its content, and in the manner in which it was debated".
"The Code ensures legal equality of everybody under the law and the court, it does not have norms discriminating against certain subjects of land relations. The Constitutional Council considers the Land Code to be in compliance with the Constitution both in its content, and the manner in which it was debated," said Yuri Khitrin, the Council chairman.
Last week, President Nursultan Nazarbayev announced he would sign the draft code into law if the 7-member Council considers it constitutional and asked the Council to rule on the issue. In mid-May, the Government, not content with several provisions introduced into the bill by the lower house of the Parliament, has called for a vote of confidence. The two houses of Parliament split in the vote for confidence, which meant that the Government has won the vote and has gotten the approval for the draft land code in its version.
The code would introduce private farmland ownership in Kazakhstan for the first time in Central Asia, clearing way for further market-driven reforms in the agriculture. The Council's decision cannot be appealed.
Kazakhstan Provides Second Airport for Antiterrorist Coalition
Kazakhstan has formally provided a second major airport for the antiterrorist coalition to use as a reserve one, after Kazakhstan's and Dutch officials signed an intergovernmental memorandum in Astana on June 11.
Earlier in May, the government of Kazakhstan approved the provision of the airport in Shymkent (south) for the stated use within its participation in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.
"This decision reflects Kazakhstan's official position in support of the international community's actions against terrorism with all the available means," the Foreign Ministry said in a June 11 statement. First Deputy Foreign Minister Kairat Abuseitov and Dutch Defense Attache Gen. Verner Paul Kale signed the memorandum.
The Dutch aircraft that from now on can use the Shymkent airport operate out of Manas airport in neighboring Kyrgyzstan.
Soon after September 11th terrorist attacks, in which a Kazakh citizen also perished, Kazakhstan opened up its airspace for the antiterrorist coalition and expanded military-to-military cooperation with the U.S. and other nations. So far more than 1,000 coalition aircraft flew over the country on their way to Afghanistan. In 2002, the republic also provided its largest airport in Almaty for use by the U.S. Air Force in emergency situations.
EBRD President Commends Kazakhstan's Innovation Program
Jean Lemierre, the president of 26-nation European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, said last week that the recently adopted industrial and innovation program in Kazakhstan provides clear understanding of what the republic wants to achieve, outlines economic means and mechanisms to do that. Mr. Lemierre was speaking to reporters at the end of the Foreign Investor's Council June 5 meeting in Borovoe resort in northern Kazakhstan, which he co-chaired with President Nursultan Nazarbayev.
The bank's chief said the realization of the program, which seeks to triple the country's GDP by 2015, will be achieved through "the efforts of the private sector", while the government's role would be to continue improving the economic infrastructure, raising professionalism and the quality of education.
On the same day, Mr. Lemierre and Kazkommertsbank Chairman Nurzhan Subkhanberdin signed the agreement whereas the EBRD bought 15% stake in the country's biggest bank for $30 million. Mr. Lemierre then announced that the EBRD would invest up to 400 million euros in Kazakhstan this year, and said "thorough and carefully managed macroeconomic policies and a continuing process of banking sector development" explain such attitude.
Astana Celebrates Five Years as Capital
The people of Astana filled the streets on June 10 in a citywide celebration of its 5th anniversary as Kazakhstan's capital that included concerts, exhibits, fireworks and chef contests of several dozen kinds of cuisine.
While the capital was formally moved from Almaty in the south to Astana in the center of the country in December 1997, it was officially presented to the international community as the capital in an inauguration ceremony June 10, 1998.
Since then the city's territory grew threefold, and the population expanded from under 300,000 to well over 500,000. The population is expected to grow up to 1,000,000 people within the next decade, as Astana continues to assert its role as the major political, economic and cultural center.
Already, the city has been experiencing a major boom in construction and services industries. Apart from government offices and modern housing compounds, several new top-notch hotels, business centers, sprawling shopping malls and a large entertainment center with a shark-laden aquarium have been built. Almost a dozen foreign embassies have relocated to Astana from Almaty, and the U.S. is moving forward with the construction of its new embassy too.
"I was amazed by the city and by such a huge construction effort," said Phil Gramer, a Peace Corps volunteer, in an interview with Khabar TV (khabar.kz), who came to the city to see the festivities. "The fact that so many people show their skills and remember their roots is as remarkable as that they all live in one country," he added.
* * *
News Bulletin of the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the USA and Canada
(Compiled from own sources and various agencies' reports)
Contact persons: Roman Vassilenko, Aibek Nurbalin
Tel.: (202) 232- 5488 ext. 104, 115, Fax: (202) 232- 5845
