Two days after leaving his position in the presidential administration, Aibek Dadebay was elected chairman of a new political party in Kazakhstan: Adilet.
In mid-April Adilet’s formation was announced by varied group of professionals, from NGO leaders to political scientists to business figures. Their stated intention is to “consolidate the efforts of all responsible citizens to build and strengthen a Just State with a strong economy, broad prospects for all, and a credible position for our country in the global community.”
A “Just State” is an aspect of Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s “Just Kazakhstan” framing, itself paired with the “New Kazakhstan” pitch outlined in the wake of the January 2022 events and the constitutional referendum that year.
In his November 2022 second inauguration speech, Tokayev said, “Now our common goal is to build a Just Kazakhstan, where the law reigns and order is observed, and where the rights of citizens are duly respected.”
Dadebay, now head of Adilet, headed the presidential administration until May 5, a position he was appointed to in February 2024 after two years as Tokayev’s chief of staff.
It’s of little surprise then, that the emerging shape of Adilet is not as opposition but as yet another pro-presidential party as the country heads toward legislative elections in August.
Kazakhstan’s March 15 constitutional referendum made considerable changes to much of the country’s basic law. Among those changes was the replacement of the bicameral parliament with a unicameral legislature, the Kurultai. The Kurultai – which borrows its name from an ancient high-level gathering of political and military leaders common across the Eurasian Turkic-Mongol world – will have 145 deputies elected proportionally via party list to five-year terms.
At present, Kazakhstan has seven officially registered political parties: Amanat, Auyl, Respublica, Ak Zhol, the People’s Party of Kazakhstan (PPK), the National Social Democratic Party (JSDP), and Baytaq, a green party. All but Baytaq have representatives in the outgoing parliament, but Amanat – formerly named Nur Otan – holds an overwhelming majority with 62 out of 98 seats in the Majilis, the lower house.
Tokayev resigned as Amanat’s chairman in April 2022, calling it a symbolic step. He ran as a technically independent candidate in the November 2022 presidential election, backed by the “People’s Coalition,” which included Amanat, Ak Zhol, and the PPK.
Despite lowered technical barriers to party registration since 2019, numerous would-be opposition parties have struggled to obtain registration. These range from Mukhtar Ablyazov’s Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DVK), which was declared an “extremist” group in March 2018, to Oyan, Qazaqstan, which grew from renewed civic activity and a brief flash of hope in the wake of Nursultan Nazarbayev’s March 2019 resignation from the presidency.
On numerous occasions over the years, activists affiliated with unregistered political parties have found themselves inconveniently detailed on their way to gather, a necessary step in organizing a political party. At times, it’s worse. In February 2022, Zhanbolat Mamai – the head of the unregistered Democratic Party – was arrested and convicted in April 2023 on charges that he orchestrated “mass riots” during the 2022 protests. In lieu of prison time, he was subject to a broad ban on social and political activity.
Between May 2022 and July 2023, the Alga Kazakhstan party was refused registration 16 times.
Earlier this year, Meiram Kazhyken, leader of the unregistered YNTYMAQ political party, wrote an appeal to Tokayev after his efforts to register had twice been rebuffed.
Article 23 of the Kazakh Constitution guarantees citizens the right to the freedom of association. “However, in practice, we have encountered a situation where this right has become virtually unattainable,” Kazhyken wrote in January.
“Without the real possibility of registering parties and associations, Kazakhstan risks remaining among the countries with limited freedoms, and public trust in reforms will decline.”
These experiences contrast sharply with the smooth path Adilet appears to be walking. Its party congress on May 7 went off without a hitch and it seems likely that it will achieve registration soon. Rauan Kenzhekhanuly, president of the “Kazakh Tili” society and a member of Adilet’s political council, framed the party’s founding as “Guided by the need to implement the tasks set by the President of our country to build and strengthen a just Kazakhstan.”
What value does a new political party provide if its main focus is parroting the existing president’s platform?
