The "Adilet" party was registered at record speed
On the very first day of June, "Adilet" was officially registered by the country's Ministry of Justice. In the history of political party building in Kazakhstan, no new political project has ever managed to hit the ground running from notification to registration this quickly. Typically, political organizations wait years for approval to operate officially, often facing rejections, and some haven’t been able to register since the days of Nursultan Nazarbayev's rule.
The 'Adilet' party has been registered with record speed.
However, if we consider the process of registering the 'Adilet' party from the perspective of legislative norms, the record speed seems explainable. After the amendments made to the law on political parties in November 2022, an online verification mechanism for electronic signatures of initiative group members, delegates of founding congresses, and new party members was launched in the Republic of Kazakhstan. The presence of administrative support ensures that the necessary lists for party registration are checked literally within days.
The fact that 'Adilet' would pass the registration process so quickly became clear on the day the party was announced. Seven out of sixteen members of the initiative group were part of the 'Commission on Constitutional Reform' established in January by President Tokayev. At that time, the main goals of 'Adilet' were also announced. Firstly, to contribute to the realization of Tokayev's proclaimed concept of a 'just Kazakhstan'. Secondly, to ensure strict compliance by all parties with the provisions of the new constitution adopted in the March referendum.
Suspicions that the new party is an administrative project of the country's leadership intensified by early May. The initiative group did not receive any objections regarding the name 'Adilet', although the use of names of past political organizations is not welcomed in Kazakhstan. Until 2013, 'Adilet' was the name of the political party of former Supreme Court Chairman Maksut Narikbayev, which later merged and rebranded into the ruling 'Amanat'. The leadership list of the new party, which emerged after the founding congress held in Astana on May 7, was also telling. The leader of the new 'Adilet' became Aibek Dadebay. Two days before the congress, he left the post of head of the Administration of the President of Kazakhstan, a position he had held since February 2024.
'Adilet': notable leadership and rapid growth in party membership.
The leadership of the new party is also impressive. It includes businessmen from Kazakhstan's Forbes list, such as Andrey Lavrentyev (shareholder of the Allur Group of Companies, 'Agromashholding', and the Karaganda Metallurgical Plant), Rauan Kenjehanuly (founder of Bilim Media Group), and Aigazy Kusainev (owner of the International Educational Corporation managing several schools and universities). The list of the leadership of the new party also includes Renat Bekturov, the head of the International Financial Center 'Astana' (IFCA), former Minister of Digital Development, and now Chairman of the Board of JSC 'Kazakhtelecom' Bagdat Musin, and children's rights ombudsman Dinara Zakiyeva. There is also information about the likely inclusion of former assistant and press secretary to the President of Kazakhstan, Ruslan Zheldibay, in the leadership of 'Adilet'.
But what really caught the attention of observers was the meteoric rise in the number of members in the new party. At the founding congress of the "technological platform for consolidating society around Tokayev's reforms", it was stated that there were almost nine and a half thousand members, but on the day of state registration, June 1, the leader of "Adilet", Dadebay, announced that the total membership had surpassed 126 thousand people. If this information is accurate, the new party has become the third largest political organization in Kazakhstan in less than a month, following the ruling "Amanat" and the long-standing parliamentary party "Ak Zhol".
'Adilet': the illusion of renewal in Kazakhstan's party system?
Political analyst Dosym Satpayev is not too surprised by the rapid growth in the 'popularity' of the 'Adilet' party. In a comment to DW, he noted that in Kazakhstan there is no politics in the classical sense - there are purely political technologies. "Parties are created for certain projects, for the current situation, for specific budgets. Within 'Adilet', a number of very wealthy businessmen are already visible. It was created in a similar model to that during the rule of the first president. This party is not tasked with making any changes to political processes. The goal of this party is to create the illusion of some kind of renewal in the party system," Satpayev believes.
According to the political analyst, the electorate wants to be shown that genuine processes of renewal have begun in the country, that there are some old players from the Nazarbayev era, and now, with the adoption of the new constitution, a new party is emerging. "Any classical party primarily relies on a specific electorate. In the case of 'Adilet', this is not visible. For some reason, this party immediately indicated that it would only support the policies of the current president," Satpayev noted in a conversation with DW.
He also does not rule out that the main goal of 'Adilet' in the long term is to cement a two-party system - 'Amanat' and 'Adilet' - in the future unicameral Kurultai, while keeping all other parties in parliament merely as window dressing. "Another option is to transform 'Adilet' into a more serious player amid the power transition. That is, with the expectation that even after Tokayev leaves the presidency, his policies will continue, and 'Adilet' will serve as a sort of praetorian guard to support his future successor," suggests one of Kazakhstan's most popular political analysts.
Will some deputies from 'Amanat' move to 'Adilet'?
Former presidential candidate in the 2019 elections, Amirzhan Kosanov, takes a rather critical view of the emergence of 'Adilet'. "The creation of a second pro-presidential party, in my opinion, is driven by President Tokayev's desire to create political competition within the ruling elite, which can be presented to the international community as a kind of democratic breakthrough and a triumph of pluralism," Kosanov noted in an interview with DW, drawing on his extensive experience in founding political parties and associations.
The politician has no doubt that with competition in the president's close circle, society as a whole, with its current political demands, will remain sidelined. "Given the subordination of the executive power to electoral commissions at all levels and the largely artificial nature of the entire party system, the electoral campaign starting in July will most likely resemble a controlled fight between the two main boys on the block - the ruling party 'Amanat' and the new party 'Adilet'. The only difference will be in the pace and creativity of support for President Tokayev's policies," Amirzhan Kosanov speculated.
Based on the transitional articles of the new Constitution of Kazakhstan adopted in March, the currently functioning bicameral parliament will be dissolved on July 1. It is expected that by this date the exact date for the elections to the new unicameral Kurultai in August will also be known.
Political parties have already begun active preparations for the upcoming electoral process. According to reports from Kazakhstani media, the ruling party 'Amanat' will hold its first congress on June 12. The agenda has not yet been published, but current deputies from this party told DW that the main issues to be discussed at the upcoming congress will include consideration of the election program, approval of the party list, and questions regarding rotation in the party's governing bodies. "Significant changes are ahead. There is, for example, a rule that the deputy corps must change by at least one-third. It has always been that way. There are quite a few who wish to remain in parliament," briefly commented one of the deputies from the 'Amanat' party on expectations from the congress. He did not rule out that some deputies from 'Amanat' who do not make it onto the new party lists might "reappear" in the party list of 'Adilet'.
There is insider information that the new political party will hold its first congress two days after the conclusion of events by the 'Amanat' party.