KZBlog

On June 7th, President Nazarbayev will hold an Internet press conference, answering questions sent in through the Internet. You can write to akorda@e.gov.kz or go to go to E.Gov.kz, the Kazakhstan government electronic portal. There you can also see the questions asked, and vote for your favorite questions.

He is taking questions from foreigners so feel free to write in. As of today, they have received 1510 questions and 88 154 votes for questions. Of course they noted on Khabar news that some questions were insulting and had to be rejected or edited, and some questions were “incorrect; we have already said that we won’t take personal questions.” Which is too bad, but I do wonder what they consider to be a personal question.

On the one hand, they are right to reject soft-ball questions like, “What is your favorite food?” Answering such questions takes precious time away from more critical questions on policy or recent events. So it’s a good sign that they won’t try to avoid hard questions in that way. Such questions also provide a chance for politicians to make themselves more beloved:

What is your favorite food?

Well, there’s nothing better than a big plate of my wife’s beshbarmak and kumys from my home town. We just love piling up our plates with her tasty thin noodles and guests always take five or six servings…

Such an answer conjures up a homey atmosphere, a loving wife, and a simple man of the people guaranteeing more votes. Or maybe that’s only in American politics.

So it’s a good sign that they are rejecting some easy answers for the President, and presumably planning to focus on serious issues. Although I am always fascinated by day-to-day details of how the powerful live. Where does the President have lunch? When he calls the PM, does he call personally or does his secretary call the PM’s secretary, or what? Who buys his clothes? I love knowing these sorts of things about presidents and pop stars. I guess such questions are off the table.

Khabar reported that the most common question received was about right-wheeled cars and looking at E.Gov.kz, that seems to be the case. Whether or not questions about controversial topics like Rakhat Aliyev’s recent arrest warrant or the HIV crisis in Shimkent will be taken has yet to be seen. Some have noted that the President has yet to make a public statement about the events surrounding Aliyev and this conference may be a way for him to do so. And the question has been posed already on the site:

Уважаемый господин Президент! Ваше мнение по поводу действий правоохранительных органов в отношении Рахата Алиева, а так же происходящего вокруг Нурбанка!
Honored Mr. President. What is your opinion of the actions of the police organizations regarding Rakhat Aliyev and the events surronding Nurbank?

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Why bureaucrats have the right to buy expensive automobiles (presumably at public expense) and receive many free apartments also appears to be a popular, if controversial question.

We assume that no matter how many votes this question gets, it will not be answered:

Какой номер у вашего сотового телефона? Можно вам позвонить напрямую?

What is your cellphone number? Can I call you directly?

But there are plenty of other softball questions asked on the site such as, “Who takes care of your money and what do you love most to spend money on?” or “Which subjects did you get low grades in in school?”

In any case, send in your questions through E.Gov.kz or email to akorda@e.gov.kz.

And watch June 7th for the press-conference. Sadly I will be busy that day so I look forward to someone live-blogging it, as I would like to do.