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1 1 (November 22, 2022)

handle is hein.crs/govejme0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional ____ ~ Research Service Political Reforms in Kazakhstan Updated November 22, 2022 Kazakhstan, a U.S. partner in areas such as counterterrorism and regional security, is implementing political reforms as it faces a range of domestic and international challenges. Following unprecedented unrest in January 2022, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has moved to consolidate power while his country confronts difficult geopolitical dynamics in the wake of Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Reforms introduced by Tokayev are restructuring Kazakhstan's political system and annulling the privileged position of former President Nursultan Nazarbayev, who held office for nearly three decades. While authorities tout ongoing reforms as moving the country in a more democratic direction, skeptics question the degree to which Kazakhstan will implement genuine democratization. On November 20, Tokayev secured a second term in a snap presidential election, winning 81% of the vote. Observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) deemed the electoral contest lacking competitiveness. Kazakhstan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs criticized this assessment as biased. The U.S. Department of State concurred with OSCE findings and declared support for Tokayev's reform program. Some Members of Congress have expressed interest in expanding U.S. engagement with Kazakhstan, and in Kazakhstan's reform process. January Unrest On January 2, 2022, peaceful demonstrations broke out in Kazakhstan's western oil-producing region over increased fuel prices. The protests quickly spread throughout the country, encompassing grievances over corruption and economic inequality, with much of the anger directed at Nazarbayev and his family. By January 6, the protests had become the largest and most violent unrest in Kazakhstan's history, leaving over 200 dead. Some Members of Congress condemned the violence, calling on Kazakhstani authorities to respect human rights. Some scholars assess that in addition to peaceful protestors with genuine economic and political demands and opportunistic looters, the events involved organized provocateurs, who attacked government facilities and law enforcement. Tokayev referred to the events as an attempted coup. Many analysts contend that figures associated with Nazarbayev and his family took advantage of genuine popular protests to pursue an intra-elite power struggle. As Tokayev moved to control the situation, he appealed for assistance from the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a Russia-led security alliance to which Kazakhstan belongs. In the first deployment in the organization's history, a CSTO mission of approximately 2,500 troops from Russia, Armenia, Congressional Research Service https://crsreports. congress.gov IN12030 CRS INSIGHT Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress

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