Ermurat Bapi

Ermūrat Seiıtqazyūly Bäpi (born 7 March 1959) is a Kazakh politician and journalist who was Chairman of the Nationwide Social Democratic Party (JSDP) from 26 April to 6 September 2019. He is the editor of the independent newspaper Tasjargan ( — ).

Biography

Early life and education Bäpi was born in the village of Qarabulaq, in the East Kazakhstan Region. In 1976, he was a correspondent of the Zaisan Regional newspaper. From 1977 to 1980, he served in the Soviet Navy of Kamchatka Submarine Flotilla of the Red Banner Pacific Fleet, where he was a petty officer in reserve. In 1985, Bäpi graduated from the Al-Farabi Kazakh National University with a degree in journalism.

Career After graduating, Bäpi worked as correspondent, senior correspondent, head of the Department of the East Kazakhstan regional newspaper Kommunism tui (Didar), correspondent, senior correspondent of the newspaper Socialist Kazakhstan and Egemen Qazaqstan. From 1992 to 1995, he was the deputy general director of Qazaq Radiosy, head of the editorial office of Dustom and commercial programs Taikazan. From 1995, Bäpi worked as the deputy head of the Press Service of the Government of Kazakhstan until he became the advisor to the President of the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Kazakhstan Akezhan Kazhegeldin in 1998. He then was the head of the publishing project DAT and the chief editor of the newspaper ''SolDAT.

Bäpi served as member of the Central Council of the movement For a Just Kazakhstan. He ran in the 2016 Kazakh legislative election in the Nationwide Social Democratic Party (JSDP) party list which won no seats in the Mazhilis. However on 26 April, after Zharmakhan Tuyakbay stepped down from the post of the Chairman of JSDP, Bäpi was unanimously chosen by the party's delegates to succeed Tuyakbay's role. It was also announced that the JSDP would refuse to participate in the election with Bäpi calling for boycott.

On 6 September 2019, at the 15th Extraordinary Congress of the JSDP, the party delegates expressed a vote of no confidence in Bäpi, and as a result, he was removed the post as the party's chairman. The reason for removal was due to disapproval by the party members such as his trip to Paris in May, where Bäpi met former PM Akezhan Kazhegeldin and the former Äkim of Atyrau Region Bergei Rysqaliev, who have been living in exile and convicted at home on charges in corruption while others saw no Bäpi's ability to attract new members to the party. He was replaced by Ashat Raqymjanov as the party's new chairman. Former Chairman Tuyakbay called the party's move as "dirty and dastardly coup." On 8 October 2019, Bäpi claimed that Rysqaliev was a "rightful owner" of the party.