Ult Tagdyry (, ), officially the "Ult Tagdyry" Joint National-Patriotic Movement (; ) is a Kazakh

nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

public association that was formed in 2005. The movement advocates for civil rights, language preservation, rural protection, and legal reforms. In the 2019 presidential election, Ult Tagdyry nominated opposition candidate

Amirjan Qosanov Amirjan Sagidrahmanuly Qosanov (, ; born 13 May 1964) is a Kazakh politician, journalist, political activist. He was a main challenger to Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in the 2019 Kazakh presidential election. Early life, career Amirjan Qosanov was born ...

, who won approximately 16% of the vote.

History

On 27 July 2005, a group of political activists, including Dos Koshim and Hasen Qojahmetov, announced the creation of a national

political movement A political movement is a collective attempt by a group of people to change government policy or social values. Political movements are usually in opposition to an element of the status quo, and are often associated with a certain ideology. Some t ...

in Kazakhstan called Ult Tagdyry ("Fate of the Nation") at a press conference in

Almaty Almaty, formerly Alma-Ata, is the List of most populous cities in Kazakhstan, largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population exceeding two million residents within its metropolitan area. Located in the foothills of the Trans-Ili Alatau mountains ...

. The launch coincided with the 100th anniversary of the 1905 Karkaraly petition, which called for civil liberties, equality, and the protection of the Kazakh language and culture. The organizers declared they would continue their work even without official registration as public association and emphasized the need to address persistent national issues such as language decline, rural stagnation, land sales, and state control over religion. While some observers linked the rise of such movements ahead of the 2005 Kazakh presidential election, the founders of Ult Tagdyry described it as a broad,

nonpartisan Nonpartisan or non-partisan may refer to: __NOTOC__ General political concepts * Nonpartisanship, also known as Nonpartisanism, co-operation without reference to political parties * Non-partisan democracy, an election with no official recognition ...

initiative with support from across the political spectrum. In 2010, the group criticized the proposed referendum to extend Nazarbayev's term until 2020. In April 2019, Ult Tagdyry took part in the

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The p ...

by nominating

as the opposition candidate. According to Dos Koshim, stated that while Qosanov was not a member of the organization, his views on democracy, national identity, and the need for systemic change aligned with those of the Ult Tagdyry movement's representatives. Qosanov received approximately 16% of the vote in the first round, the highest share ever achieved by a non-incumbent candidate in Kazakhstan’s presidential election history. In response, Koshim blamed the opposition for attacking Qosanov instead of addressing systemic issues and criticizing President

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev Kassym-Jomart Kemeluly Tokayev (born 17 May 1953) is a Kazakhstani politician and diplomat who has served as the second president of Kazakhstan since 2019. He previously served as Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, Prime Minister from 1999 to 2002 ...

, claiming that

electoral fraud Electoral fraud, sometimes referred to as election manipulation, voter fraud, or vote rigging, involves illegal interference with the process of an election, either by increasing the vote share of a favored candidate, depressing the vote share o ...

prevented his victory and undermined the movement's call for change. During the 2023 interview, Koshim clarified that he does not consider Ult Tagdyry as his personal party, stating that the leadership of the organization should be rooted in those who fought for Kazakh independence or participated in key historical movements, like the Azat Civil Movement of Kazakhstan or

Jeltoqsan The Jeltoqsan (), also spelled Zheltoksan, or December of 1986, were protests that took place in Alma-Ata, Kazakh SSR, in response to CPSU General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev's dismissal of Dinmukhamed Kunaev, the First Secretary of the Com ...

Election results

References

Political advocacy groups in Kazakhstan Political movements in Kazakhstan Organizations established in 2005 2005 establishments in Kazakhstan {{Kazakhstan-party-stub