Rice takes high road in Tajikistan visit
(AP)
Updated: 2005-10-13 20:40

"Our goal is not to lecture our friends on how to do things the American way. Rather, we seek to help our Central Asian partners to find the stability they seek and our historical experience has taught us that stability requires legitimacy and true legitimacy requires democracy."

Students mostly asked questions about the economy and education and Rice was nearly finished with the session when an opposition figure stood to shout a question about what was characterized as Nazarbayev's authoritarian streak.

"I think it will be and is necessary to have free and fair elections in Kazakhstan," Rice replied carefully. "There is much work to do to get to free and fair elections." She added that truly open elections require a clean campaign process.

After the speech, Rice posed for pictures with opposition figures.

One opposition campaign worker in the audience said Rice could have done more to encourage truly democratic politics.

"I am disappointed a little because there was no concrete thing," said Bulat Abilov, campaign manager for the opposition group known in English as The Right Path.