JAN. 18 2012 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Kazakh authorities have been touting the parliamentary election on Jan. 15 as a democratic leap forward.

As expected Nur Otan, the party of Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev, won with 80% of the vote. Behind it was Ak Zhol with 7.5% and the Communist People’s Party (CPP) with 7.2%.

Both Ak Zhol and CPP gain seats in parliament by passing a 7% barrier, therefore ending a one-party parliament. This, the authorities say, shows Kazakhstan’s commitment to democracy.

Except that it doesn’t.

Both Ak Zhol and the CPP are overtly pro-presidential. The new parliament may have three different parties but it will still have only one voice.

The Kazakh authorities had also neatly dispatched the real opposition in the run-up to the election. The Central Election Commission suspended the Communist Party for 6 months in October and also banned other opponents on technicalities in the weeks before the election.

At a small rally in Almaty on Jan. 17, opposition leaders described the election as a fraud and called for a mass demonstration on Jan. 28. The crushing apathy of the voters means that a decent turnout for the rally is unlikely.

Still, there are more and more dissenting voices on the streets. A bank worker stood in the snow and listened to the opposition leaders. She was disgusted with the election.

“It’s the Soviet way,” she said of the authorities’ attitude towards democracy and voters.