KZBlog

In yet another move that seems to demonstrate the control the Nur Otan Party is gaining over Kazakhstan’s politics and society, Inter-fax reports that Nur Otan is considering creating a media holding company [subscribers only]. The party currently publishes two newspapers, the Russian-language Strana i Mir (The Country and the Word), and the Kazakh-language Ken Dala. However owning a media company would be quite a leap forward as it would seem to indicate that Nur Otan wants to control a much larger range of media outlets and because it would appear to mean that the party will own a commercial business, presumably making profits. Certainly in the US, political parties cannot be profit-oriented organizations, or own any kinds of business to avoid conflicts of interest. Nor do they have large media outlets.

From the article on Inter-fax:

[Nur Otan deputy chair Darkhan]Kaletaev did not say what mass media would be included in the future holding. “I can’t name them now. We are still working on the issue,” he said.

Earlier some mass media said that the Nur Otan Party would take control of Kazakhstan published versions of Russian newspapers Komsomolskaya Pravda and Izvestia as well as Kazakh newspapers, Liter and Aikyn, Astana TV company and NS radio company. The Nur Otan Party has not commented on the information so far.

If these rumors are true, it would appear that either Nur Otan has quite a bit of money in its coffers to buy all these outlets or the government is giving them quite a bit of control over the media market. Each of these publications and stations is well-known in Kazakhstan and reaches a broad base of the population. In either case, the role of Nur Otan appears to be moving beyond the boundaries of what is usual for parties toward becoming a part of the government itself or a commercial entity.

Viewed in light of the fact that the government earlier this year created Arna, a media-holding company that comprises TV station Kazakhstan, Khabar News Agency, as well as Kazkhstanskaya Pravda, KazTeleRadio, Kazakh News Agency, and a number of newspapers, it does appear that independent media is being slowly squeezed out of the market. While recently the President announced that many restrictions on news and media agencies will be lifted, the “reform” looks suspicious when news and media agencies are all under the control of the government.

Furthermore, the new law that calls for multiple parties in Parliament no longer seems like such a beacon of democracy if the government is actively giving assets to one party over the others. The law requires that at least two seats in Parliament be filled by a minority party. As usual in politics (in the US as much as in Kazakhstan), it seems that concessions to the people come only after the government has ensured it holds the upper hand.