Kazakhstan kicks off snap parliamentary polls

Kazakhstan kicks off snap parliamentary polls
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Kazakhstan's President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. (AP file photo)
Kazakhstan kicks off snap parliamentary polls
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Kazakhstan's House of the Parliament in Astana. (Wikimedia Commons / Mазур Владимир)
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Updated 19 March 2023

Kazakhstan kicks off snap parliamentary polls

Kazakhstan kicks off snap parliamentary polls
  • President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev announced the early vote as part of a “modernization” drive introduced months after protests against fuel prices erupted in January last year

ASTANA: Kazakhstan holds snap parliamentary elections Sunday as the leader of the Central Asian country pushes political reforms that critics say are designed to consolidate power one year after deadly protests.
Polling stations opened at 7 a.m. (0100 GMT). Around 12 million voters have until 8 p.m. to cast their ballots.
The huge, oil-rich nation is wedged between its former Soviet master Russia and China, which is gaining status in Central Asia as an economic powerhouse.
President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev announced the early vote as part of a “modernization” drive introduced months after protests against fuel prices erupted in January last year. They were brutally crushed and 238 people died, according to the official toll.
Tokayev, a former diplomat, was hand-picked in 2019 by his predecessor and mentor Nursultan Nazarbayev to take the helm after a nearly three-decade rule. But Tokayev purged vestiges of that era after the demonstrations.
He promised to reform government institutions and in January dissolved parliament, saying early polls would “give new impetus to the modernization.”
The ex-Soviet country’s elections now feature a wider array of candidates but there was skepticism in Almaty over the changes.
“Will I take part in the elections? No, to be honest... because I hardly believe in fair elections in Kazakhstan in general,” Aset Smagulov, a 21-year-old IT specialist, told AFP before the poll.
Independent candidates are allowed to run for parliament for the first time in nearly 20 years, whereas the previous lower house was made up of three pro-government parties.
The threshold to enter the 98-seat legislature has been lowered to five percent and a 30 percent quota was introduced for women, young people and people with disabilities.

Political scientist Dimash Alzhanov said the ruling elites remain in control of the votes, despite the changes.
“The electoral system has changed and gives the impression of choice. But in reality, the president and his administration are keeping the vote count in their hands,” Alzhanov told AFP.
“Here, elections are held in order to keep power. That’s what elections are in an authoritarian country,” he said.
After the riots that grew out of peaceful demonstrations against a fuel price spike, Tokayev was re-elected in a snap presidential vote in November, securing a landslide win in an election criticized for lacking competition.
Inequality and corruption persist and soaring inflation is hurting the purchasing power of the population of nearly 20 million people.
In economic hub Almaty, the campaign was in full swing with candidate posters on restaurant windows, scaffolding and street lamps.


Ambiguous slogans — like “Order is where the truth is” or “With me there is no mess” — reflect candidates’ lacklustre political platforms.
But some young voters welcomed the new faces.
“This is the first time I’ve seen new parties and independent candidates in parliamentary elections. For me, it’s new,” Adia Abubakir, a 20-year-old graphic designer, told AFP.
In total, seven parties will participate in this election. Two of them were recently registered, but several opposition parties and independent candidates were banned.
“I would like to believe that my voice can make a difference,” said Akbota Silim, a 21-year-old journalist.
Almaty-based political analyst Andrei Chebotarev estimated that four or five parties will be presented in parliament following the election.
“Loyal parties will be present in parliament and Amanat, the presidential party, will retain the majority of seats,” he told AFP.
But he added: “The diversity of parties will have an impact on the acceptance of the election results, both for the population and internationally.”
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Russian police target Nobel Prize-winning group in mass raids

Russian police target Nobel Prize-winning group in mass raids
Updated 8 sec ago

Russian police target Nobel Prize-winning group in mass raids

Russian police target Nobel Prize-winning group in mass raids
DUBAI: Russian security forces raided the homes of former employees of the Nobel Prize-winning human rights group Memorial on Tuesday and took some of them in for questioning, the group said, in a move denounced by one opposition party as an assault on dissent.
Founded to document political repression in the Soviet Union, Memorial was officially banned in late 2021 after the authorities claimed it supported terrorism and extremism, charges that it called absurd.
Tuesday’s raids were carried out after Russian investigators accused the now dissolved group of allegedly including the names of World War Two-era Nazi collaborators on their historical list of victims of political terror.
Memorial was not immediately available to comment.
Police confiscated items and equipment carrying the Memorial logo, the group said, and took some of the employees in for interrogation.
“At present searches of some of the employees are continuing — lawyers are not allowed to see them,” Memorial wrote on Telegram.
Memorial chairman Yan Rachinsky, who collected the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the group when it won in 2022, was also subject to a raid on his home, the group said.
Opposition party Yabloko said the raids were a “new step” in Russia’s campaign of political repression.
“What happened is an example of the destructive battle against dissent in Russia,” it said in a statement.
Since invading Ukraine in February 2022, President Vladimir Putin has accelerated Russia’s drive to suppress dissenting voices, including independent media, non-governmental rights groups and political opponents.
Putin has his own Human Rights Council, a body that critics say has enabled him to pay lip service to civic freedoms while ramping up state oppression.
Last November, shortly before his annual meeting with the Council, he removed 10 of its members and brought in four new ones including a pro-war blogger-correspondent.

US speeds up Abrams tank delivery to Ukraine war zone

US speeds up Abrams tank delivery to Ukraine war zone
Updated 49 min 3 sec ago

US speeds up Abrams tank delivery to Ukraine war zone

US speeds up Abrams tank delivery to Ukraine war zone
  • Pentagon officials are expected to make the announcement soon
  • It's unclear how soon the U.S. would begin training Ukrainian forces on how to use, maintain and repair the tanks

WASHINGTON: The Pentagon is speeding up its delivery of Abrams tanks to Ukraine, opting to send a refurbished older model that can be ready faster, with the aim of getting the 70-ton battle powerhouses to the war zone in eight to 10 months, US officials told The Associated Press.
The original plan was to send Ukraine 31 of the newer M1A2 Abrams, which could have taken a year or two to build and ship. But officials said the decision was made to send the older M1A1 version, which can be taken from Army stocks and will be easier for Ukrainian forces to learn to use and maintain.
The officials spoke on Tuesday on the condition of anonymity because the plan has not yet been publicly announced. Pentagon officials are expected to make the announcement soon.
The Biden administration announced in January that it would send the tanks to Ukraine — after insisting for months that they were too complicated and too hard to maintain and repair. The decision was part of a broader political maneuver that opened the door for Germany to announce it would send its Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine and allow Poland and other allies to do the same.
It’s unclear how soon the US would begin training Ukrainian forces on how to use, maintain and repair the tanks. That training pipeline could affect the amount of time it takes for the tanks to be used in battle. The Pentagon will also have to ensure that Ukrainian forces have an adequate supply chain for all the parts needed to keep the tanks running.


Experimental Bangladeshi school boats engage children in play-based learning

Experimental Bangladeshi school boats engage children in play-based learning
Updated 21 March 2023

Experimental Bangladeshi school boats engage children in play-based learning

Experimental Bangladeshi school boats engage children in play-based learning
  • Floating classrooms operated by country’s largest development organization
  • Fleet of 3 boats offer unique learning experience as they drop anchor in riverine towns

Dhaka: When Abir Chandra Das boarded a floating boat instead of going to the classroom on a Monday morning, it was a completely new experience, one in which the 11-year-old grasped ethics, geometry, and astronomy simultaneously as he played.

Three boats — pink, blue, and violet — anchored on the bank of the Dakatia River near his home in Chandpur district, 110 kilometers from Dhaka, and each of them had something else to offer, from mathematics through science to values.

Launched in September by BRAC, the largest development organization based in Bangladesh, the schools made a stop in Chandpur last month on their way from the northeastern district of Sunamganj to the coastal areas of Bhola in the country’s south.

“I enjoyed different elements in all three boats, especially the games and books in the values boat attracted me a lot,” Das told Arab News.

“Apart from that, I learned the triangle, square, and so on in geometry from the mathematics boat, and got some knowledge on the cosmos and microscopes from the science boat.”

Wherever they arrive, the boats usually anchor for seven to 10 days and are open from morning until afternoon, offering children the experience of play-based learning.

They stop near primary and secondary schools with which BRAC’s teams had been in touch in advance, taking onboard young volunteer teachers from local communities to make contact with children easier.

“All of the activities, materials, and contents in these three boats have been designed in a way so that children will have fun, will enjoy learning, will be curious about learning and through that hopefully be inspired to continue their education,” BRAC education director, Safi Rahman Khan, told Arab News.

“Many of these children, they may never have had the opportunity to experience such an experiential learning space. So, in that sense, we are seeing a lot of spontaneity, a lot of curiosity, many, many visitors. A lot of children are coming, a lot of guardians are coming, and teachers.”

The boats have special ramps so that children and people with disabilities can easily access them.

“We want to ensure that these boats are a more inclusive and open space for learning for all students, for all visitors, guardians, teachers, professionals, officials, and for children and visitors who may have difficulty getting onto a boat,” Khan said.

Ipshita De Chowdhury, 10, who played on the boats when they anchored in Chandpur, told Arab News that she was “very proud” of what she had learned onboard the values boat.

“It taught me the importance of values for people,” she said. “I enjoyed the elements of the other two boats also, but the values boat attracted me more.”

The things children learn in the colorful boats are also taught at normal schools too, but the way they are introduced is different.

“The difference is we have brought them into a format which is all hands-on activities. It’s not based on just reading from a book,” Khan added. “We are seeing a lot of spontaneity, a lot of curiosity.”

All the experiments, puzzles, and games they find on board, children can solve on their own or in groups. Only if they have difficulties will a teacher come to guide them.

As children flock to the boats wherever they moor and their reactions are never short of enthusiasm, BRAC is open to sharing its methods of teaching with schools and education departments.

“We hope they will be inspired, and the teachers will be inspired, and the parents will be inspired, so that they can make learning fun to encourage the children to explore, encourage the children to try and solve various types of problems, various types of activities, on their own rather than depending on maybe a rote system of learning or a system of learning which is more passive,” Khan said.

“This is a journey that we have started and it’s a very small initiative. We hope that others will get inspired.”


Kenya says 238 protesters arrested, 31 police hurt

Kenya says 238 protesters arrested, 31 police hurt
Updated 21 March 2023

Kenya says 238 protesters arrested, 31 police hurt

Kenya says 238 protesters arrested, 31 police hurt
  • Protesters had joined demonstrations in Nairobi and other parts of Kenya
  • Police fired tear gas and water cannon against demonstrators, some of whom were hurling rocks and burning tires

NAIROBI: Kenyan police said Tuesday they had arrested 238 people during the previous day’s violent protests over the surging cost of living that also saw 31 police officers injured.
Protesters had joined demonstrations in Nairobi and other parts of Kenya on Monday in response to a call by veteran opposition leader Raila Odinga for a day of action against the government of President William Ruto.
Police fired tear gas and water cannon against demonstrators, some of whom were hurling rocks and burning tires, as well as Odinga’s motorcade.
It was the worst violence since Ruto took office six months ago after narrowly beating Odinga in an election his defeated rival claims was “stolen.”
The inspector general of police, Japhet Koome, said in a statement that 213 people were arrested in Nairobi and 24 officers injured.
In the province of Nyanza, an opposition stronghold in western Kenya, there were 25 arrests while seven officers were hurt, he said.
Police had also announced on Monday that a university student was killed in the western town of Maseno after officers fired live bullets during “skirmishes” with protesters who were “pelting stones.”


Ethiopia rejects US war crime allegations as ‘inflammatory’

Ethiopia rejects US war crime allegations as ‘inflammatory’
Updated 21 March 2023

Ethiopia rejects US war crime allegations as ‘inflammatory’

Ethiopia rejects US war crime allegations as ‘inflammatory’

ADDIS ABABA: Ethiopia’s government on Tuesday accused the United States of unfairly apportioning blame for crimes committed during the two-year Tigrayan conflict.
The US allegations were “partisan,” the foreign ministry said, adding: “The US statement is inflammatory.”
Washington on Monday accused all parties to the conflict of committing war crimes.
But it singled out Ethiopian, Eritrean and regional Amhara forces for crimes against humanity, without mentioning the Tigrayan rebels.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who last week made his first visit to Ethiopia since a breakthrough November 2022 peace deal between the federal government and Tigrayan rebels, on Monday made a forceful call for accountability on his return to Washington.
He said the State Department carried out a “careful review of the law and the facts” and concluded that war crimes were committed by federal troops from both Ethiopia and its ally Eritrea as well as by the rebel Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and forces from the neighboring Amhara region.
“Many of these actions were not random or a mere byproduct of war. They were calculated and deliberate,” Blinken said as he presented an annual rights report.
Blinken added that the State Department also found crimes against humanity by Ethiopian, Eritrean and Amhara forces, including killings and sexual violence, although he did not mention the TPLF.
Ethiopia’s foreign ministry said the US statement “unfairly apportions blame among different parties in the conflict.”
“The statement appears to exonerate one party from certain allegations of human rights violations such as rape and other forms of sexual violence despite the clear and overwhelming evidence about its culpability,” it said.
“This partisan and divisive approach from the US is ill-advised,” it added, calling it “unwarranted.”
TPLF officials did not respond to AFP requests to comment about the US report.
Blinken had called for accountability during his trip to Addis Ababa, where he held an unusually long meeting with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and spoke separately with senior TPLF leader Getachew Reda.
But he did not directly mention war crimes or crimes against humanity and sounded upbeat about the prospects for peace during his visit.


The war badly soured US relations with Ethiopia, Africa’s second most populous nation and long one of Washington’s major partners on the continent.
Abiy had earlier voiced anger when Blinken during the war spoke more generally about crimes against humanity, and the Ethiopian leader has rejected UN-led efforts for a probe.
On Tuesday, the foreign ministry said Washington’s statement “undercuts the support of the US for an inclusive peace process.”
The United States has estimated that some 500,000 people died in the two-year conflict, making it one of the deadliest wars of the 21st century and dwarfing the toll from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The war began in November 2020 when the TPLF, once the major powerbroker in Ethiopia, attacked military installations in the Tigray, triggering a major counteroffensive.
As allegations of atrocities mounted, the US imposed sanctions on Eritrea, an authoritarian state whose relations with Washington were already poor, and booted Ethiopia from a major trade pact, although it held back on further actions against the warring parties.