A/HRC/13/23/Add.1 75. The Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan, which plays an advisory role to the President, is a valuable national symbol of the recognition of minorities and the commitment of the State to the preservation of the cultural heritage of minorities. Assembly members are drawn from many minority national and ethnic groups active in the cultural associations from all regions. There are also Assemblies at the regional level. Nine members of the Assembly are chosen for appointment to the Majilis, the lower house of Parliament. The Assembly nonetheless lacks the character of a legitimately representative body. Membership is based on a selection process from members of ethnic, cultural and other public associations who meet with the approval of the President,24 rather than a process which recognizes an equal franchise to every person within a minority group or all minority groups. Mechanisms should be devised to ensure that members of the Assembly are truly representatives of a minority electorate and accountable to them. Such a system would better guarantee that the true interests of minority communities will be represented at all levels. 76. The potential and legitimacy of the Assembly would be greatly enhanced if members were elected by each minority group directly and without reference to cultural associations, which are themselves not based on a principle of representativeness. 77. The Assembly’s work currently has an emphasis on the preservation of culture and traditions, the arts and supporting cultural associations. For the Assembly to fulfil its potential, its capacity as a consultative and advisory body to the President and Parliament should be strengthened in line with its constitutional status. It should be empowered to function as a standing body with frequent and regular sessions, and consider a wider range of issues of particular relevance to minorities, relating to meaningful political participation, religious matters, substantive issues of minority education and languages, measures to address practically and prevent ethnic tensions. 78. Representation of minorities within the Assembly at the regional and national levels is not a substitute for full and effective participation of minorities in mainstream processes to elect, on a democratic basis, members of the national Parliament and local government. Measures should be taken to build confidence among minorities in political processes, to democratize and enhance the powers of local governments and to develop concrete mechanisms for effective political participation of members of minority communities. 79. In this respect the independent expert draws the attention of the Government to the recommendations of the second session of the Forum on Minority Issues on the subject of Minorities and Effective Political Participation and urges it to consider implementation of these recommendations.25 80. Since independence, the introduction of policies to promote the Kazakh language and Kazakh ethnic identity has proved successful and generally been implemented in a measured and gradual manner. However, it has undoubtedly contributed to an emergent Kazakh nationalist movement. Equally, among some minority communities, which may have been historically powerful and numerically dominant, such as ethnic Russians during the Soviet era, pro-Kazakh policies have sometimes been viewed as constituting discriminatory measures, causing anxiety and leading many to emigrate to their kin-States. For many non-Kazakhs, including both Slavic and non-Slavic groups, the preservation of the constitutional guarantee of the use of the Russian language on a par with the State language in the public sector is 24 25 GE.10-10602 Art. 15, Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan. See http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/minority/forum.htm. 19