Kazakhstan shelves registration of opposition party

ALMATY, Nov 24 (Reuters) Kazakhstan's new opposition Social Democratic Party, led by a key critic of President Nursultan Nazarbayev, said today the authorities had suspended its registration.

Zharmakhan Tuyakbai, a former parliament speaker who lost a presidential election to Nazarbayev last year, set up the party in July, hoping it would take the lead among the otherwise fragmented and weak opposition.

Today the party said the Justice Ministry had suspended its registration due to a technicality.

''The ministry referred to a law ... that allows it to suspend the process of registration in case there is a need to check party member lists,'' the party said in a statement.

The statement did not say whether the party regarded the move as political. But it added: ''The country's legislation contains deliberate contradictions and loopholes that act as an excuse for dragging out the process.'' The statement said that according to a separate law, the ministry was required to consider the application before November 23.

The Justice Ministry declined to comment on the statement.

Kazakhstan's opposition movement consists of various parties and blocs ranging from liberals to communists. Parliament is controlled by pro-Nazarbayev deputies, and the media market is dominated by outlets that never criticise his policies.

Nazarbayev, in power since 1989, was re-elected in 2005 in a poll criticised as flawed by foreign monitors and Tuyakbai.

REUTERS DKA KN1718