The law requires that each party have 50,000 registered members and at least 700 registered members in each province in Kazakhstan. The registered parties below are listed by declared membership in descending order, from those with the most members to those with the fewest. The other parties are listed in alphabetical order.
Registered Parties:
* Owing to the difference in the order the parties would have appeared if they were listed alphabetically in Kazakh, Russian, or English, the registered parties below are listed by their declared membership, from those with the most members to those with the least.
The names used for the parties in this text are those by which they are most commonly known in the international press; hence Otan retains its Kazakh name instead of translating it into the English "Fatherland" or Russian "Otchizna." Alternately, the "Civic Party" is used instead of the "Grazhdanskaya Partiya" in Russian.
Otan (Fatherland)
Membership: 312,000
Chairmen: Amangeldy Ermegiyayev (since October 2002), Zharmakhan Tuyakbai and Aleksandr Pavlov (since March 2004)
Previous chairman: Sergei Tereshchenko
Founded: 1 March 1999
Registered: 12 February 1999; reregistered on 10 January 2003
Otan was formed shortly after the January 1999 presidential elections by President Nursultan Nazarbaev's campaign manager, Sergei Tereshchenko, and other members of the campaign team. The party stated immediately that its goal was the reelection of Nazarbaev in the scheduled 2006 presidential election. Nazarbaev was elected party chairman at the first party meeting, a position he declined owing to a constitutional restriction on a serving president being the head of a political party. The party is the largest in Kazakhstan and holds the majority of seats in both houses of parliament.
The party was formed on the basis of existing parties and movements supporting Nazarbaev's candidacy in the January 1999 elections, among them the National Unity Party of Kazakhstan, the Liberal Movement of Kazakhstan, the For Kazakhstan 2030 movement, and the Justice Party (Adolat).
Asar
Membership: 177,000
Chairwoman: Dariga Nazarbaeva
Founded: 25 October 2003
Registered: 19 December 2003
The Asar Party was formed in September 2003 from the Asar social movement, which pledged itself to helping the low-income sections of society. Dariga Nazarbaeva, the daughter of the Kazakh president, leads the party, which was registered in December 2003 and has since managed to attract several deputies in the Mazhilis and Senate to join Asar. The party publicly maintains that it supports President Nazarbaev's policies.
Though Nazarbaeva stated only in September that the Asar movement would transform itself into a political party, Asar was able to officially register in December with 77,000 members. A little over a month later, Nazarbaeva claimed the party had 166,000 members, 10 of whom were members of the parliament. Asar recently claimed to have 177,000 members, which would make it the second-largest party in the country heading into October's Mazhilis elections.
Asar, which claims that about half of its members are between 20 and 35 years old, lists among its goals using some of the country's oil revenue to create new jobs, greater social and medical support for low income families, and state funding for the construction of new and affordable housing. Nazarbaeva has also spoken of giving more state aid to veterans and pensioners.
Nazarbaeva has said Asar hopes to take 50 percent of the seats in the election.
Civic Party
Membership: 160,000
Chairman: Azat Peruashev (First Secretary)
Founded: 17 November 1998
Registered: 29 December 1998; reregistered 10 January 2003
Ak Zhol
Membership: 147,000
Chairmen: Oraz Zhandosov, Alikhan Baimenov, Bulat Abilov, Altynbek Sarsenbayev
Founded: 16 March 2002
Registered: 3 April 2002; reregistered by the Justice Ministry on 12 December 2002
Members of the Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DCK) movement who broke away from it in early 2002 formed Ak Zhol. The party is less confrontational with the government than the DCK proved to be, but continues to make mild criticism of some policies, has supported the cause of journalists' rights, and criticized some of the 2004 amendments to the election law. The party supports the current government's policies and claims to represent the interests of businesses and enterprises in Kazakhstan.
The party is strangely placed going into the 19 September elections to the Mazhilis. Co-chairman Altynbek Sarsenbaev was named Information Minister on 12 July but kept his position in Ak Zhol and said he would continue to be guided by his convictions.
On 27 July, another Ak Zhol co-chairman, Bolat Abilov, was found guilty of slander and given an 18-month suspended sentence. The ruling disqualified him from running in the September elections.
Patriots Party Of Kazakhstan
Membership: 132,000
Chairman: Gani Kasymov
Founded: 1 July 2000
Registered: given provisional state registration on 4 August 2000; registered with Justice Ministry in August 2001; re-registered in 2003
On 24 April 2004 the Union of Officers (war veterans) announced they were joining the party and bringing their 27,000 members.
Aul Social-Democratic Party
Membership: 125,000
Chairman: Gani Kaliev
Founded: 30 January 2000
Registered: March 2000; re-registered in 2003
Aul chairman Gani Kaliyev says the party represents the interests of the agricultural sector. Kaliyev says 80 percent of the residents of villages live below the poverty line.
Aul was among the parties to voice concern about the electoral reforms but after they were passed Kaliyev said "constructive dialogue with the authors of the government's version have allowed us to reach a consensus."
Agrarian Party
Membership: 102,000
Chairman: Romin Madinov
Founded: 6 January 1999
Registered: 16 March 1999; re-registered in 2003
Democratic Choice Of Kazakhstan Party
Membership: 87,000
Chairman: Asylbek Kozhakhmetov (ideological leader is Galymzhan Zhaqiyanov)
Founded: 21 February 2004
Registered: 4 May 2004
The Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan Party was formed from the Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan movement. Several members of parliament and current and former government officials formed the movement in November 2001. Within two days these leaders -- Deputy Prime Minister Oraz Zhandosov, Deputy Defense Minister Zhannat Yertlesova, Pavlodar Province Governor Galymzhan Zhakiyanov, Labor Minister Alikhan Baimenov, regulator of monopolies Berik Imashev, and Deputy Finance Minister Kairat Kelimbetov -- were dismissed from their duties.
Beyond criticizing many of the government's policies, the DCK often raised the issue of Kazakhgate*. In early 2002, the Prosecutor-General's Office started an investigation of two DCK leaders -- Zhakiyanov and Ablyazov -- for abuse of power when they were serving government officials. Both were later convicted and sentenced to jail terms.
The movement did not attempt to register when the new law on political parties went into effect.
21 November 2001 -- DCK holds founding congress, Political Council named: Galymzhan Zhakiyanov, Temirbank chairman Mukhtar Ablyazov, Labor Minister Alikhan Baimenov, deputies Tolen Tokhtasynov and Zauresh Battalova, former Deputy Premier Oraz Zhandosov, former Deputy Defense Minister Zhannat Yertlesova, Deputy Finance Minister Kairat Kelimbetov, and Kazcommerzbank Chairman Nurzhan Subkhanberdin.
22 November 2001 -- President Nazarbaev sacks Labor Minister Alikhan Baimenov, monopolies regulator Berik Imashev and Deputy Finance Minister Kairat Kelimbetov.
Rukhaniyat
Membership: 75,000
Chairwoman: Altynshash Jaganova
Founded: 1995
Registered: 30 October 2003
The party was formed on the basis of the Revival of Kazakhstan Party that writer-dramatist Altynshash Jaganova helped found in 1995.
Communist Party
Membership: 70,000
Chairman: Serikbolsyn Abdildin (First Secretary)
Founded: June 1937
Activities permitted to resume at 19th congress in 1993
Registered: 28 February 1994; re-registered on 17 February 1997; re-registered in 2003
The Communist Party basically maintains the policies that its predecessor had during the Soviet era. The party draws it support mainly from older citizens, those who spent the majority of their life under Soviet rule and who remain a significant segment of the country's population.
The party suffered a split at the start of 2004 when a group led Vladislav Kosarev started accusing party First Secretary Serikbolsyn Abdildin of accepting money from questionable sources. The splinter party, the Communist People's Party of Kazakhstan, has attracted some members of the original party but apparently not enough to cause a review of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan's registration, as 50,000 registered members are still required.
It was not the first split in the party. The Communist Party was banned after the Soviet Union disintegrated and Kazakhstan became an independent state. A splinter group formed the Socialist Party, which declared itself the legitimate heir to the Communist Party of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic.
Communist People's Party Of Kazakhstan
Membership: 70,000
Chairwoman: Vladislav Kosarev
Founded: 2004
Registered: 21 June 2004
The Communist People's Party of Kazakhstan splintered from the Communist Party of Kazakhstan at the start of 2004. Leader Vladislav Kosarev and others accused the original Communist Party's leader, Serikbolsyn Abdildin, of accepting money from questionable sources.
This internal struggle lasted into the spring of 2004 before the new party broke off from the old.
The new Communist People's Party of Kazakhstan did take some 15,000 members of the original party, which is not enough to meet the requirement for 50,000 registered members. The origin of the other 55,000 members Kosarev claims is unclear.
Democratic Party Of Kazakhstan
Membership: 60,108
Chairwoman: Maksut Narikbaev
Founded: July 2004
Registered: 14 July 2004
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