Köşe Party (, KP) is an unregistered

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

that was founded by a group of political activists from the

Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

(QDT) on 4 February 2020. According to the party's activists, the Köşe Party serves as political movement that seeks to improve the quality of life within the country through peaceful means and that it has no leader. In spite of the party's will, the Kazakh government declared the Köşe Party's activities as extremist due to its ties with the QDT in May 2020 and as a result, the party was barred from operating within the country with reports of activists associated with the movement facing persecutions from the Kazakh authorities.

History

According to the Köşe Party activist Ashat Jeksebaev, the organisation was formed on 4 February 2020 as a political movement that aimed at fighting corruption and transforming

into a democratic, parliamentary republic. The party gained its publicity on 8 February, when the leaflets were distributed around cities that contained the socio-political and economic programme of the Köşe Party as well as the release of political prisoners. The Köşe Party received endorsement from the

(QDT) leader

Mukhtar Ablyazov Mukhtar Qabyluly Ablyazov (, ''Mūhtar Qabylūly Äbliazov''; born 16 May 1963) is a Kazakh businessman and political activist who served as chairman of Bank Turan Alem (BTA Bank), and is a co-founder and a leader of the unregistered political ...

. On 19 May 2020, the

Prosecutor General's Office of Kazakhstan The Prosecutor General's Office of Kazakhstan () is a state body accountable to the President of Kazakhstan, exercising supreme supervision over the precise and uniform application of laws, decrees of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan an ...

announced that the Köşe Party was in fact, the already-banned QDT party of which was operating under the different name and as a result, the Köşe Party was declared illegal within the country, warning that any persons associated with the extremist movement would face criminal prosecution.{{Cite web, date=2020-05-19, title="ДВК" трансформировалась в "Көше партиясы". Ее тоже запретили в Казахстане, url=https://www.zakon.kz/5023271-dvk-transformirovalos-v-k-she-partiyasy.html, access-date=2021-07-07, website=Zakon.kz, language=ru The move received condemnation from the party's activists, claiming that the Kazakh authorities are wrongfully accusing of party doing illegal actions in which the Köşe Party denied allegations. As a result, the party filed an appeal against the district court's decision on 25 May.

Goals

According to the party's manifesto, it called for loans and mortgages worth up to 30 million tenge to be forgiven, an increase salaries for teachers and doctors to 400,000 tenge, benefits for people with disabilities and unemployment. It has also positioned its support for

universal health care Universal health care (also called universal health coverage, universal coverage, or universal care) is a health care system in which all residents of a particular country or region are assured access to health care. It is generally organized a ...

and

free education Free education is education funded through government spending or charitable organizations rather than tuition funding. Primary school and other comprehensive or compulsory education is free in most countries (often not including primary textboo ...

for all citizens. According to Köşe Party activist Anna Şökeeva, the party aims at peaceful change of power with a parliamentary form of government where people are given the opportunities "to decide and govern themselves".

References

Political parties in Kazakhstan Kazakh democracy movements Political movements in Kazakhstan 2020 establishments in Kazakhstan Banned political parties in Kazakhstan Political parties established in 2020