Foreign Minister Qasymzhomart Toqaev told members of parliament on 20 June that two draft bills amending legislation on NGOs go against Kazakhstan\'s international obligations and should not be passed. Toqaev said that the legislation, if passed, could negatively impact the activities of UNESCO, the World Health Organization, and the OSCE in Kazakhstan. He stressed that this is especially worrisome in light of Kazakhstan\'s stated desire to chair the OSCE in 2009. The two bills in question have drawn criticism from NGOs, which charge that they will tighten state control over civil society. Darigha Nazarbaeva, the daughter of President Nursultan Nazarbaev and the head of the pro-presidential Asar Party, called on 26 May for the draft bill on international and foreign NGOs to be recalled. (Kazakhstan Today)