KAZAKHSTANI LEADERSHIP INVITES OPPOSITION TO DIALOGUE.

Kazakhstan’s major party, the Party of People’s Accord (PPA), on January 6 called on all parties, trade unions, ethnic movements, and public organizations to join round-table discussions with the government and to renounce protest rallies, demonstrations, and strikes. Such pressures on the government disrupt economic reforms and efforts to build a state based on the rule of law, the PPA’s appeal said. Also yesterday, on the Russian Orthodox Christmas, President Nursultan Nazarbayev appealed on television to members of that denomination to contribute to social and interethnic consensus in Kazakhstan. (Interfax, Itar-Tass, January 6) These appeals follow Nazarbayev’s decree last week, declaring 1997 a Year of National Consensus and Remembrance for Victims of Political Repression.

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