Kazakhstan Strictly Adheres To 'Day Of Silence' On Election Eve

KUALA LUMPUR, April 4 (Bernama) -- In Kazakhstan, the "day of silence" is observed very seriously. The term does have a sombre feel to it and rightly so too because in this Central Asian republic, it is the day that precedes an election. And all the political parties there firmly adhere to the "no campaign" rule, as this writer learnt during a trip to Kazakhstan's sprawling capital, Astana, to cover the nation's parliamentary election on the invitation of the embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan, here. The election was for the 107-seat Mazhilis, or lower house of parliament. "I'm wondering if there really is an election taking place here. Look, there are no banners, no posters, no sign whatsoever that the nation is going to the polls," a fellow Malaysian journalist remarked during the drive from Astana International Airport to our hotel that bitterly cold late evening of March 18. The next day we queried the rather dashing Dauren Murzakebov, who was to be our liaison officer of sorts during our stay in Astana, why the streets were bereft of election paraphernalia and he replied, patiently: "Today (March 19) is the day of silence and no party is allowed to campaign. Today, Kazakhstan's voters will not have to listen to any speech or read anything about the election. They are free to spend the whole day quietly contemplating which party to vote for." Later, on the way to attend a press briefing at the Kazakhstan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, we spied a couple of large posters of a jubiliant-looking President Nursultan Nazarbayev, who had led the republic since it gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Both party and local council workers had done a neat job removing the election-related materials from the public areas the night before the eve of election, as it was spanking clean wherever we went. Not even a teeny-weeny telltale sign that six political parties had been on campaign mode since Feb 20. THE LIGHT CONTINUES TO SHINE It was obvious that a substantial portion of Kazakhstan's electorate had contemplated thoughtfully and decided against rocking the boat. The first whiff of a landslide victory for the dominant Nur Otan party came late into the night on election day (March 20) when an exit poll conducted by the Astana-based Institute of Democracy revealed that the president's party had secured 82 per cent of the votes cast. Its findings were uncannily spot on as the official results announced by the Kazakhstan Central Election Commission (CEC) the following day showed that Nur Otan, which in the Kazakh language means "Light of the Fatherland", won 82.15 per cent of the votes cast, up from 80.99 per cent in the last election in 2012. Two other political parties - the rightist, pro-business Ak Zhol and leftist Communist People's Party of Kazakhstan - were also voted into the Mazhilis after they received 7.01 per cent and 7.14 per cent of the votes. While the Kazakhstan polls outcome was predictable considering Nazarbayev's popularity, some of its election procedures provided food for thought for one observer, who was none other than Election Commission of Malaysia (EC) Chairman Mohd Hashim Abdullah. FESTIVE FEEL Speaking to Bernama at the CEC office in Astana a day after the election, Mohd Hashim said he had visited several polling stations the previous day and was impressed with what he saw. In particular, the children who tagged along with their parents or family members caught his attention as they were not only allowed into the polling booth but were also permitted to put the ballot paper into the box. The EC chief found the non-restrictive atmosphere somewhat appealing as he felt that it was a good way to teach children to take pride in their right to vote. "There was a festive feel at the polling stations, with people selling food and drinks and voters talking to each other freely. There was no tension at all," he said, adding that he had also observed that journalists were allowed to move around freely at the centres. "I also like the fact that the CEC had set up polling stations in locations like universities and even cinema halls and hospitals to make it convenient for the people to vote." In Malaysia, children are a big no-no at polling centres because under Section 15 of the Elections Regulations (Conduct of Elections) 1981, only registered voters are allowed into the centres. NO LAST-MINUTE LOBBYING Mohd Hashim was among the 817 international monitors invited by the Kazakhstan government to observe this year's parliamentary election. On election day, a total of 9,840 polling stations threw their doors open at 7am across the country and by the time they closed at 8pm, 77.1 per cent of the registered voters had cast their ballots. The voter turnout, noted the CEC, was the highest ever recorded in the country - maybe the "merciful" weather that day (the temperature ranged from two degrees Celsius to a manageable five degrees Celcius for most part of the day) was a contributing factor. About 150 journalists, this writer included, from 30 countries were kept busy the whole day as they flitted from one polling centre to another, under the watchful eyes of Kazakh foreign ministry officials, of course. Our first stop, at the rather imposing Schoolchildren's Palace located on the right bank of the still-frozen Ishim river (which flows through Astana), was an important one as Nazarbayev cast his ballot there. The people's reverence for their president was unmistakable, as election workers and voters present there burst into applause when he walked into the main hall. By the end of the day, the media team this writer was part of had visited four polling centres and the complete absence of party banners and slogans, as well as party workers trying to lobby for last-minute votes, was glaring, to say the least. As mentioned earlier in this article, Kazakh political parties do take the no-campaign rule seriously during the last 24 hours or so before polling. It is quite the opposite in Malaysia where it is not uncommon for political parties to set up temporary "stalls" festooned with buntings and flags outside voting centres. It is also not unusual to see eager party workers approaching voters walking past them to solicit their support. FREE, FAIR & TRANSPARENT Coming to the rather delicate issue of whether the recent election was fair, no matter what the international election monitors may say about having had free access to the nation's electoral processes, a certain section of the Western media seems hell-bent on deriding the predictive outcome of polls in Kazakhstan and the tendency for its dominant political party to retain its "supermajority" in the absence of a strong opposition. An editor of a New Delhi-based business magazine that focuses on Central Asian affairs, who was also in Astana to cover the election, said while it was usual for the Western media to lash out at emerging democracies, in reality Kazakhstan's electoral system was among the most transparent in the world as seats in the lower house of parliament were awarded to the winning parties based on their proportional representation. "Parties are elected into the Mazhilis based on the percentage of popular vote that they manage to secure, and the winning parties are known to appoint people of high calibre as deputies or members of parliament," he said. Election Commission of Astana Deputy Chairman Baibulayev Baltabai Kauoashovieh, when met at a voting centre in Saryarka district in the capital city, said the electoral process was very transparent and that voters were free to vote for the party of their choice. "As you can see, voters are free to talk to each other while journalists and observers are free to talk to the election officials on duty," he said, adding that he had observed a substantial increase in voter turnout in the Saryarka district this time around. "In this centre itself, by 3pm 90 per cent of the registered voters had cast their votes. This is a good sign as more and more people now want to exercise their right to vote and no one is stopping them from doing so or compelling them to vote for a certain party." Putting aside allegations that its elections were neither fair nor transparent, the Kazakhstan government - strengthened by the new mandate - is determined to push ahead with various economic, social and public-sector reforms to spur growth in an economy battered by falling fuel prices. The economic slowdown was the main reason the government of Central Asia's largest economy had called for a snap election as it wanted to focus its efforts on tackling the new economic challenges. -- BERNAMA