Bush wants 'fair poll' in KazakhstanNick Paton Walsh in Moscow
Wednesday August 3, 2005
The Guardian
George Bush has written to the authoritarian president of oil-rich
Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, to urge him to allow fair elections
when the central Asian leader seeks a third term later this year.
"The latest events in the region have stressed the importance of a
balanced economic growth, responsible governance and democratic
development. I urge you to make sure that economic reforms are backed
up with bold democratic reforms," said Mr Bush, according to an
edited version of the letter.
The letter came in the wake of a revolution in Kyrgyzstan in March,
during which an angry mob ousted the president Askar Akayev, and after
bloodshed in Andijan, in Uzbekistan, where troops shot hundreds dead
at a protest demanding that dictator Islam Karimov resign.
Speculation is rife that popular protests may seek to oust Mr
Nazarbayev, whose family retains a tight grip on the country's
economy, political life and oil reserves, thought by some to be
second in size only to Saudi Arabia's.