Kazakhstan’s New Parties Struggle to Register

On June 1, the ministry of justice registered Adilet (Kazakh for “Justice”), a new party that could soon become a contender in Kazakhstan’s political scene. The initiative group behind the party was formed soon after the Constitutional referendum in mid-March and the party’s first congress was held on May 7.

By going through the registration process within just a few weeks, Adilet became the fastest party to achieve official status in Kazakhstan’s recent history.

What follows is a May 2022 piece, originally published in Russian at Vlast, describing the long and difficult journey that some parties have struggled with since President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev announced the opening of the country’s political environment in 2022.

As a note, the membership threshold for applying to register a political party was slashed from 20,000 to 5,000 with amendments to the Law on Political Parties in November 2022.

To date, out of all 16 parties mentioned in the article, only Baitak and Respublica were allowed to register.

In April 2022, Kazakhstan’s minister of justice Kanat Mussin announced that his ministry had received 10 applications for the formation of new political parties since 2019, with the majority submitted following the 2022 presidential election. But despite a flurry of political activity, not a single new party has been officially registered. In fact, Kazakhstan has fewer registered parties today than it did three years ago.

Bureaucracy bears much of the blame. Only three groups have managed to clear the first stage of registration, which requires forming an initiative of at least 1,000 members, while none have passed the second of collecting 20,000 supporter signatures, a threshold that was recently lowered as a gesture towards liberalization.

These reforms have been framed as part of a broader push to increase political competition, but few aspiring parties believe official registration will become easier. Vlast spoke with several founders about what the process looks like from the inside.

People’s Congress of Kazakhstan

Revived in April 2022, the People's Congress of Kazakhstan had begun as a social movement before pivoting toward formal politics, with workers’ rights at its centre. It also focused on nationalizing profit from natural resources and tackling problems facing young people, particularly unemployment.

“Currently, we have 15,000 supporter signatures,” said Omarkhan Oksikbayev, a former Majilis deputy from the ruling Amanat party and one of the movement’s leading figures. “I think we will collect the 20,000 required by law. Our goal is to submit before the government lowers the threshold to 5,000.”

The party is a revival of the original People’s Congress, a prominent social and intellectual force in the 1990s. More than two decades later, poet and diplomat Olzhas Suleimenov has once again emerged as one of its leading figures. Like its predecessor, the new party avoids overtly oppositional rhetoric and Suleimenov has publicly endorsed President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s political reforms.

Zher Korgany

Founded in 2016, Zher Korgany (from Kazakh “Defense of the Land”) began pursuing formal registration following proposals to lower the signature threshold to 5,000. But with that amendment still pending, the party finds itself in a bureaucratic in-between.

Led by Mukhtar Taizhan, the movement claims to have more than 1,000 supporters. Central to its manifesto is a proposal to use 40.2 million hectares of unused land for economic development, the withdrawal from the Eurasian Economic Union, the release of political prisoners, and the nationalization of revenue from natural resources. A broader political manifesto, however, is still being developed.

“I believe we could eventually have 50,000 to 60,000 members,” Zhanibek Kozhyk, the party spokesperson, said. “But the problem is that the laws are not really working. We are not close with the authorities, so they could block us like other opposition parties.”

People’s Ecological Party Baitak

Baitak was born out of a conversation with Tokayev and its current party chairman, Azamatkhan Amirtayev, in which the president told him Kazakhstan needed an environmental party.

Much of its support is concentrated around some of the country’s most acute environmental crisis zones: ArcelorMittal’s facilities in Temirtau, Kazakhmys operations in Zhezkazgan, Kazzinc sites in Oskemen, and projects linked to Tengizchevroil in Atyrau and Karachaganak Operating Project in Uralsk.

Members regularly organize protests to push environmental issues into the political mainstream, with many arguing that Kazakhstan could claim up to $50 billion in compensation from foreign companies for environmental damage and redirect those funds into the state budget.

Despite this organisational breadth, the party has been caught in a bureaucratic loop of its own. Amirtayev says they first submitted documents in early 2019 and have now done so 15 times. For them, the changing legislation has been more of a hindrance than a help to official registration.

“The ministry of justice told us that any submission under the old rules requires an initiative group of 1,000 people and 20,000 signatures,” Amirtayev explains. “Now they are telling us to wait until we can register under the new rules.” 

Yntymaq

Yntymaq (from Kazakh, “Solidarity”) began its registration process in 2022. Formal registration, however, is not a priority.

“We’re not rushing. We want people committed to serious reforms,” says group leader Meiram Kazhiken. “Once we structure our group, we plan to submit documents to the ministry within a month. After that, we will finalise a manifesto and organize an official political assembly.”

The party grew out of the Yntymaq Coordinating Council, which has strong links to leading trade unions, including the Confederation of Labor and the Federation of Trade Unions. These organizations hold a combined membership of over 1.1 million people and Yntymaq expects to attract at least 100,000 of them.

Alga, Kazakhstan!

Alga, Kazakhstan! (from Kazakh, “Forward, Kazakhstan!”) was founded in 2022 and is currently submitting initial documents to the ministry of justice. Once that stage is complete, the party will hold a founding assembly to finalize its manifesto and elect leaders. But chairman Zhasaral Kuanyshalin is candid about his expectations.

“It’s clear that the current regime will do everything it can to prevent the party from being registered,” he said. “Under these circumstances, there’s no point in counting on democratic steps from the current government.”

Alga intends to pursue registration through every available legal channel. If denied, Kuanyshalin says he and his colleagues will take their case to the international community, human rights organizations, the European Parliament, and the UN.

Democratic Party of Kazakhstan

The Democratic Party of Kazakhstan first emerged in 2019. Since then, the registration process has not progressed beyond the first stage, not for lack of signatures, but because of intimidation by authorities at their first party congress.

“Police profiled our supporters,” party activist Inga Imanbai said. “They set cars on fire, made arrests, pulled people off trains and planes. They disrupted our assembly entirely. And the day before it was due to take place, they arrested our leader, Zhanbolat Mamai.” Mamai was subsequently released, then arrested again. Despite this, Imanbai believes the party retains enough support to meet the 20,000 signature requirement.

The Democratic Party continues to operate and is campaigning for Mamai's release. For Imanbai, the party’s inability to register demonstrates how much the current government fears competition. “We’ve already seen enough repression and we aren’t afraid to go further,” she said. “Technically, we meet every legal requirement for registration. All that’s needed is the approval of the authorities.”

Namys

Namys (from Kazakh, “Honor”) is a so-called “digital party,” which emerged in 2022. Its leader, Sanzhar Bokayev, told Vlast that the initiative’s list of 1,200 members was compiled in a day and a half before submission to the ministry of justice.

“We’ve taken precautions to avoid any technical hitches. However, we may be denied registration if any potential members belong to an existing party. We double-checked everything before submission and called everyone on the list, but maybe they’re not aware themselves,” he said.

Namys plans to hold its first assembly imminently. By law, the entire group must attend, a provision that Bokayev sees as unworkable. No other country in the world, he asserts, has such requirements. In Canada, for example, the inaugural congress only requires 100-200 attendees.

“I’m simply trying to understand whether we really have a ‘New Kazakhstan’ or not? Does the law work or not? If we are registered, it means we can join the political mainstream. Not just to be a social force outside the system, but a political force operating within the legal framework.”

Our Right

Sanavar Zakirova attempted to register Our Right in early 2019. However, on the eve of its founding meeting, she was sentenced to a year in prison for an incident involving the daughter of a member of the ruling party. Since then, the party’s registration and activities have been suspended.

​​Since her release, Zakirova has returned to the party, but obstacles have multiplied. “I can’t rent an office,” she says. “They don’t rent out space to public associations. And people are afraid to join us.” She is working on an information campaign and plans to advertise on social media, but holds few illusions about where the process leads. “Even if we collect the required number of signatures, I estimate the likelihood of registration at 0.001%.”

HAQ

Since 2019, Togzhan Kozhaliyeva has made several attempts to register HAQ (from Kazakh, “Truth”). None have succeeded, despite the movement having sufficient regional support to meet the 20,000 signature requirement. For now, Kozhaliyeva says, the initiative group is waiting to see whether the proposed amendments to the law on political parties actually materialise.

“If the amendments are adopted, it means the authorities intend to register parties. If these changes are not made, it means the state will continue to pretend. Announcing the registration of parties without changes is irresponsible,” she said. 

Respublica

Respublica has been attempting registration since 2019. Their plans to form a coalition before the 2021 elections with the Nationwide Social Democratic Party (OSDP) and HAQ civic movement were abandoned over fears of loss of autonomy.

What followed, according to movement leader Bella Orynbetova, was sustained pressure from the state. “We received offers to collaborate with government agencies - from the National Security Committee to local executive bodies - to create a new, supposedly independent party,” she says. “Our members were pressured. The authorities used various levers of influence. Not everyone could withstand it, and some left.”

Respublica still has the support base to form a party. But the group has concluded that now is not the right moment, particularly in light of the arrest of Democratic Party leader Mamai.

“We understand that the risk of being imprisoned over nothing is significant,” Orynbetova said. “If we created a party now, we would effectively have to agree to cooperate with government agencies in every way."

The group’s registration work remains on hold, but if other genuinely independent parties succeed in registering, Respublica will either resume its own efforts or seek a coalition. “My colleagues continue their political activity in the meantime,” Orynbetova said. “We are still here.”

Yel Tiregi

Nurzhan Altayev has been trying to register the Yel Tiregi party since 2020 and maintains that the ministry of justice is blocking it without legal grounds. Obstacles began at the initial member submission when the ministry began reviewing a list of 1,300 individuals, even though this goes against procedure.

“They denied our registration, claiming our list includes dead people and members of other parties,” Altayev said. “That’s impossible - we know all these people, we’re in constant contact, they have health insurance, they can all be found in any agency’s database, and it’s clear they’re real, living people.”

Yel Tiregi appealed to the court, and the judge sided with the party for a long time. Representatives of the ministry continued to claim that the list included five deceased persons, but refused to provide evidence to the judge, citing the need to protect their personal data.

“At some point, the judge cornered the ministry of justice, but then, apparently, he received a call, and at the next hearing, he ruled that the ministry’s claim was legitimate. We understand that this change is politically motivated. The issue isn’t the list, but the fact that the authorities are afraid to register our party,” Altayev stated.

Bulat Abilov’s Party

In March, entrepreneur and politician Bulat Abilov announced that he was forming a new party, with the aim of reclaiming assets illegally privatized during the 1990s. He declined to reveal the party’s name, promising to do so within months. The initiative group is currently being finalized, and work on the manifesto is underway.

Abilov is unbothered by the legislative uncertainty surrounding registration. “We’re not waiting for the promised amendments; we’re operating within the existing rules,” he says. “If the adoption of the amendments is delayed, we'll be ready to collect 20,000 signatures. We hold meetings every day with people interested in what we’re doing. This is happening across all of Kazakhstan’s regions.”

He acknowledged the likelihood of delays but drew a line between obstruction and illegality. “There are no fundamental legal grounds for refusing to register our party. If necessary, we are prepared to go through every legal procedure available to us and keep our supporters informed every step of the way.”

Tabigat

Mels Yeleusizov announced the founding of the Tabigat (Kazakh for “Nature”) environmental party in October 2020, but has yet to begin the formal registration process. He is waiting for the revised law on political parties before committing to a route that, under current rules, he regards as prohibitively demanding.

“I know we need to register,” he said. “But we need to see the new version of the law first. At this stage, gathering 20,000 members won’t be easy. We’re not in a rush.”

Alash-Zheltoksan Ulttyk

Gulbakhram Zhunis first submitted registration documents for the Alash-Zheltoksan Ulttyk Party in 2021, and has been in a standoff with the ministry of justice ever since. The initial obstacle was the party's name: the ministry asked her to replace the word ulttyk (Kazakh for “national”) with either khalyk (“people’s”) or demokratiyalyk (“democratic”), which she refused. A second submission a year later was returned by the ministry with a list of errors that the group is still working to correct.

“The last time we applied, we passed the first stage, held a congress attended by 1,200 people, and entered the second stage,” Zhunis said. “Then the pandemic stopped everything, and now the ministry of justice is telling us to start again from the beginning.”

The delays, she said, are deliberate. “The authorities are deliberately delaying adopting the amendments. We already have over 5,000 supporters, but we want to put pressure on the government to move faster.” 

Khalyk Tandauy

Khalyk Tandauy (Kazakh for “People’s Choice”) began its registration process in 2022. Potential members have been asked to complete a questionnaire during the membership drive, and the group expects to gather around 50,000 signatures through the process before preparing the official documents required by the ministry of justice.

The party’s political activity dates back to 2018. Its ambitions include establishing a new Republic, a reformed state system, renewed emphasis on the Kazakh language and culture, and an overhaul of what member Yerzhan Turgumbai describes as an economy still dominated by Soviet-era personnel and planning. Parliamentary powers and local self-government are also central to its policies.

Turgumbai has little faith that the registration process will be straightforward. “I don’t believe Tokayev will relax the law on political parties,” he said. “This system didn’t emerge overnight, and neither did he.” 

Khalyk Derbestigi

Khalyk Derbestigi (Kazakh for “People’s Autonomy”) is the least transparent among movements seeking registration. Documents for registration first appeared in 2021, when then-justice minister Marat Beketayev identified several errors in the submission.

At a briefing in April 2022, then-minister Mussin announced that the party had passed the second stage of registration and held a founding congress, though there were no media reports on the event. Mussin was unable to name those representing the party, nor who made up its initiative group. Now registration had been suspended pending a legal review, he said.

The party’s public footprint is almost nonexistent. The only mention on social media is a post by the publisher Bakhytzhan Bukharbai, who saw the party collecting signatures in Almaty in 2019.

At the time, collectors told him the party’s leader was Zhumatai Aliyev, a former deputy chairman of the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan and Majilis member who, that same year, failed to qualify as a presidential candidate after failing a Kazakh language exam. Whether Aliyev remains connected to the party is unknown. 

An edited version of this article was translated by Maria Hille.