Esenbek Ouktechbaev is president of the new “Janartou” (“Renaissance”) trade union of Kazakstan and one of the leaders of the Socialist Movement of Kazakhstan, a Kazakh anti-capitalist organisation.
The first round of the local elections took place against a backdrop of widespread creeping fascism in France and comes after a brutal offensive by the far right, during which the traditional ‘Republican’ right has decisively broken from much of its historical framework and values.