Kazakhstan lifts ban on election protests

ASTANA, Nov 24 (Reuters) Kazakhstan lifted a ban on public protests during elections today as part of its efforts to show the West it is progressing towards democracy.

The ban was introduced to prevent trouble during the presidential election in December 2005 following peaceful pro-Western revolutions in Georgia and Ukraine that were triggered by fraudulent elections.

President Nursultan Nazarbayev was re-elected in 2005 for a seven-year term. Western monitors declared the election rigged.

Kazakh officials said there was no longer any need of a ban.

''The December election showed that our society is politically mature,'' Onalsyn Zhumabekov, head of the central election commission, told reporters after the lower house passed amendments lifting the ban in the second and final reading.

Nazarbayev, accused by opponents of stifling press freedom and abusing human rights, is seeking Western support as he pushes for Kazakhstan to take the helm of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe in 2009.

The West has long urged Kazakhstan, a big oil producer on the Caspian Sea, to show more commitment to democracy and market economy principles, and step up efforts against corruption and red tape.

The changes have to be signed by Nazarbayev to come into effect, a largely technical procedure. Parliament voted on it in the first reading just before Nazarbayev visited the United States in September.

REUTERS DKA RK1444