ALMATAY, Kazakhstan — Kazakhstan on Saturday observed a new holiday lauding President Nursultan Nazarbayev, part of a growing cult of personality around the leader of the sprawling, resourcerich former Soviet republic.
The highlight of First President’s Day, which marks the anniversary of Nazarbayev’s first election in 1991, was a carefully choreographed pageant by some 30,000 performers in an arena in the capital Astana, including mass singing and banner-waving.
Across the country, schoolchildren and state employees held demonstrations of affection, concerts and sports events in his honor. To what extent the participation was voluntary was unclear.
The 72-year-old Nazarbayev exercises extraordinary dominion over Kazakhstan’s political life. In the most recent presidential election in 2010, he pushed aside threerivals to win 95 percent of the vote; international monitors criticized the election as unfair.
He receives blanket, praiseful coverage from state news media, while the government has cracked down on independent outlets.
Nazarbayev has become the subject of films, plays and children’s fairy tales. A university, a network of elite schools, and a city park adorned with his statue have been named after him. An imprint of his hand is incorporated into the design of the nation’s banknotes.
Observers say this is partly old-style cult of personality, but also an attempt to cement a unifying element in a vast and sparsely populated, multiethnic country of 16.5 million that some fear could one day be torn apart by clan rivalries and regional loyalties.
All across the country, billboards bear Nazarbayev slogans identifying national strength in ethnic unity.
Russian-speaking ethnic Slavs make up about one-fourth of the population, and there are also substantial German, Tatar, Uyghur and Turkish communities, among a dizzying array of ethnic groups.
The development of Kazakh nationalism has been fervently resisted by Nazarbayev, although tight controls over the media make it difficult to assess the strength of underlying social tensions.
In 2010, the ever eager-toplease parliament bestowed upon the president the title of Elbasy - “leader of the nation.” The position gives him the power to approve important policies after he retires and grants him lifetime immunity from prosecution for all actions during his rule.
In the run-up to Saturday’s holiday in Kazakhstan, a day of lectures was held in the capital, Astana, at Nazarbayev University to celebrate the leader’s much-trumpeted legacy, including his decision to get rid of the nuclear-weapons arsenal that Kazakhstan inherited in the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev, a senior United Nations official and Kazakhstan’s former foreign minister, said Nazarbayev had resisted overtures from pariah states.
“In early 1992, the foreign ministry received a letter addressed to Kazakhstan’s president from Libyan revolutionary leader Moammar Gadhafi proposing to hold onto the nuclear arsenal,” Tokayev said. “Billions in assistance were offered in return.”
Instead, Kazakhstan drew on substantial U.S. assistance to dispense with its nuclear stockpile, earning widespread praise.
But international criticism also is strong.
U.S.-based advocacy group Freedom House has designated Kazakhstan as not free and noted a worsening trend last year with legislation that in effect limited religious liberties.
Front Section, Pages 14 on 12/02/2012