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U.S. Department of State Office of the Spokesman Press Statement

Press Statement by James P. Rubin, Spokesman
November 5, 1998

The Central Election Commission of Kazakhstan has found former Prime Minister Akezhan Kazhegeldin ineligible to register as a candidate in the Presidential election scheduled for January 10. The U.S. views this action by the Commission and other recent government actions as inconsistent with commitments Kazakhstan has made as an OSCE participating state, including especially the Copenhagen Document, in three areas:

--First, citizens have the right to seek office without discrimination.

--Second, campaigning is to be conducted in a fair and free atmosphere in which no administrative action, violence, or intimidation bars the parties and the candidates from freely presenting their views and qualifications, or prevents the voters from learning and discussing them.

--Third, no legal or administrative obstacle is to stand in the way of unimpeded access to the media on a non-discriminatory basis for all political groupings and individuals wishing to participate in the electoral process.

The United States urges the Government of Kazakhstan to take tangible steps to fulfill these commitments, commitments to which it re-pledged itself in our annual bilateral Joint Commission discussions, which concluded November 3 in Almaty.

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