The Prime Minster of former Soviet state Kazakhstan has ordered his minsters to start personal blogs.
In a surprise move, Masimov started his own blog last week with his first post receiving 152 comments already. People have apparently complained about the quality of tap water in villages which initiated an immediate investigation into the complaints.
This is all quite surprising considering the international opinion of the state. President Nursultan Nazarbayev, a former communist party boss, has ruled Kazakhstan since 1989 and has never been democratically elected nor re-elected.
Regardless, the blogs are scheduled to appear live by the end of January not leaving much time for the minsters to install their plugins!
Personally I think it’s a fabulous idea, however the pessimist in me can’t help but picture the government publishing ‘fake’ positive comments to paint a pretty picture of the country for outsiders. I wonder if the concept will spread elsewhere? I can’t see why not.
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