President Nazarbayev calls Snap Elections
01.02.2011
By Richard Orange
The unexpected about-turn, announced by Nursultan Nazarbayev in a speech from his presidential palace, followed a ruling by the country's constitutional committee that the planned referendum was unconstitutional.
There had also been criticism of the scheme from the United States, European Union and international pro-democracy groups.
"As the first president, led by the best interests of the country, I have decided not to hold a referendum," Mr Nazarbayev said.
"I cannot create a wrong precedent for future generations of politicians." Mr Nazarbayev then announced that he would hold snap presidential elections within the next few months, by asking the parliament to bring forward elections so that his present presidential term, which lasts until the end of 2012, "becomes almost two years shorter".
The move, which follows a warning last week from Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, that Kazakhstan's referendum plan was "a setback to democracy", comes after street protests toppled the autocratic ruler of Tunisia and have plunged Egypt into a crisis.
Dosym Satpayev, a political analyst in Almaty said, however, that he did not believe Mr Nazarbayev had been swayed by international criticism.
"He knows that in any case, Western countries will criticise. Both a referendum and a presidential election will be criticised. But a referendum for him is too authoritarian a model. He is thinking about his historical role, about his positive image in history. He knows that in any case, he will win."
Mr Nazarbayev, widely known as "Papa" in Kazakhstan, has ruled the resource-rich country since he was appointed First Secretary of the Kazakh Communist Party in 1989. Although he enjoys genuine support from many ordinary Kazakhs, there is only one party in parliament, the opposition is weak and the country has never held an election judged free and fair by international observers.
The idea of a referendum was launched at the end of December by a self-styled citizens' group, which earlier this month claimed to have collected more than 5 million signatures in support of the poll.
The referendum would have extended Mr Nazarbayev's term until 2020, skipping elections in both 2012 and 2017.
Mr Nazarbayev passed the question over whether to hold the referendum to the country's constitutional committee, saying that he would abide by whatever decision the committee made.
The committee on Monday morning ruled that the referendum law was unconstitutional, the Telegraph (UK) said.