The Kazakh government must remove barriers to opposition parties’ participation in the electoral process and help “weak” civil society develop, former Polish president Aleksander Kwasniewski said on Saturday in his keynote address to the EBRD’s annual conference.
The president also said maintaining the eurozone was essential to the survival of the European Union.
He specifically called for the 7% barrier on parties entering parliament to be lowered at least to 5%, for power to be decentralized, for wider local democracy including the election of mayors and for media freedom to enhance civil society.
“The main problem in central Asia is that civil society is extremely weak, and frankly speaking, it doesn’t exist,” he said.
Kwasniewski warned Kazakhstan must not rely on the appearance of another strong political leader to take the reins from the incumbent, President Nazarbayev.
“It is the time today for Kazakhstan to create stronger, better democratic institutions which will provide effective leadership. It is necessary to create multi-party pluralism.”
While acknowledging that Poland had a longer democratic tradition and that the hold of the Soviet Union was much tighter in the central Asian ex-Soviet bloc, he insisted the transition to democracy would move forward with or without government help.
The EBRD’s mandate includes fostering the development of democracy along with providing financial support to developing countries. In Kazakhstan’s election in March this year opposition parties boycotted the vote claiming that the election was not fair and free.
Asked in an interview whether the EBRD had concerns about holding its meeting in a country not known for its strong democratic principles, bank president Thomas Mirow said: “I think it’s fair to recall that a month ago in the very same city we had a summit meeting of the OSCE – which in this regard may be even more topical than the EBRD.
“One has to acknowledge that the Kazakh leadership itself has hinted at the necessity of political and economic reforms. One also has to look at Kazakhstan in terms of how it has developed as compared to many of its neighbours.”
Mirow said there was no need for the bank to press authorities on reforms in the manner that former EBRD president Jean Lemierre had at its annual meeting meeting in Tashkent in 2003. Lemierre had used his opening address to slam the Uzbek government’s lack of democratic credentials and poor human rights record.
“I think the political conditions in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan are quite different,” said Mirow. “And therefore the way to engage with governments could and should also be different.”
Kwasniewski, who was president of Poland from 1995 to 2005 and oversaw its entry to the EU, also gave a rousing defence of the euro.
He said the delay in accession of new countries including Poland to the single currency was welcome for both sides. It gives eurozone countries time to work out debt issues and potential entrants the opportunity to prepare for joining.He also dismissed suggestions that Greece or the other troubled peripheral economies like Ireland or Portugal should withdraw from the euro.
“If we eliminate some countries from the eurozone it will start the process of the disintegration of the EU and politically, economically, socially this would be a disaster. We must not crash the Eurozone which is one of the most important pillars of regional cooperation and European integration.”