The Week in Kazakhstan: No Bark, No Bite

As was expected, Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has ordered that parliamentary elections will be held in August.In a speech on April 10, Tokayev emphasized the importance of providing “advance notice” for an event of such “great significance.” According to the new Constitution, the Kurultai – the country’s reformed parliament – will consist of a single chamber using proportional representation.Under a new bill passed by the Majilis, stray or abandoned dogs in Kazakhstan will be killed if not reclaimed within five days of being seized by dogcatchers.Eighty six deputies voted in favor of the measure on April 8, which will make regulations on stray dogs more stringent.Previously, seized dogs would be sterilized, vaccinated, and injected with microchips before being released.On April 9, deputy energy minister Sanzhar Zharkeshov said that fuel prices are not expected to increase further following a recent uptick after the expiry of a temporary price cap.Zharkeshov also noted that Kazakhstan’s oil exports via the Caspian Pipeline Consortium have remained stable in recent weeks, despite repeated Ukrainian drone attacks on the Russian port of Novorossiysk, where the pipeline terminates.Kairat Maksutov, chairman of Samruk-Energo, the national utility company, said that a Kazakh-Singaporean consortium will build new coal power plants in Semey and Oskemen.Speaking at a government briefing on April 8, Maksutov noted that the contract was signed at the end of January.Earlier plans had envisioned that the plants would be built by a Kazakh-Russian consortium.Kazakhstan’s government is considering adopting measures to decriminalize the “deliberate spreading of false information,” deputy minister of information Kanat Iskakov said on April 8.The provision in question, article 274 of the criminal code, has long been used to punish or silence journalists.Activists from the unregistered Atajurt party face between five years of probation and five years in prison for “inciting interethnic discord,” their lawyer said on April 9.The provision in question, article 174 of the criminal code, has long been used to punish or silence members of civil society.Since the trial against the 19 Atajurt members first began in January, several local and international human rights activists have called the authorities to drop all charges against them. A note published by Human Rights Watch on April 6 has called on Kazakhstan’s government to drop all charges against the feminist activist Zhanar Sekerbayeva, and “put an end to the manufactured case against her.”