The pro-presidential parties Otan and Asar joined forces on July 4 when participants in Otan\'s extraordinary ninth congress voted in favor of the merger. Darigha Nazarbaeva, head of the Asar Party and daughter of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaeva, floated the idea on June 19 of a merger to unite all pro-presidential parties. Nazarbaev, who heads Otan but has delegated leadership of the party to Bakytzhan Zhumagulov for the duration of his presidency, told Otan members at the congress that the new party must preserve discipline and avoid a division into \"Otan members\" and \"Asar members.\" He stressed, \"We, Otan members, are combining our efforts for the sake of our country and people.\" Nazarbaev said that the new party will have 700,000 members, according to the presidential website (http://www.akorda.kz). Even before the merger, Otan was the country\'s largest party, with a majority of the 77 seats in the Mazhilis. (Interfax-Kazakhstan)