Kazakhstan election: President Nursultan Nazarbayev confident of retaining power in poll
Elections have been criticised as a 'staged show and buffoonery'
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Your support makes all the difference.The President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, is set to renew his 26-year grip on power, offering some stability in return for what rights groups call systematic suppression of opposition.
Mr Nazarbayev, 74, officially titled “Leader of the Nation”, called presidential elections – criticised as a “staged show and buffoonery” – more than a year early in a move that could quash any speculation about a successor.
He faced no real challenge from the other contenders, a low-profile Communist Party functionary and a loyal former regional governor. Upbeat and smiling, the former steelworker appeared confident of a landslide win as he voted in his futuristic capital, Astana. “I am confident … Kazakhstanis will vote for stability in our state, to support the policy which the country has so far been following under my leadership,” he told reporters.
Mr Nazarbayev has promoted market reforms and, with the help of more than $200bn (£132bn) in foreign direct investment, turned his nation into the second-largest economy in the former Soviet Union and the biggest former Soviet oil producer after Russia. Kazakhstan has built good ties with neighbours Russia and China and developed warm relations with the United States and the European Union.
As the vote started at 7am, queues formed quickly at the polling station in the cavernous Schoolchildren’s Palace, where Mr Nazarbayev voted later. “I voted for our beloved Nazarbayev, of course,” said Vera Kalinina, a 68-year-old pensioner. “He gave us everything – pensions, free medications, we have food. What else do we need? God give him good health.”
Most of Mr Nazarbayev’s vocal critics have either been jailed or fled the country. The biggest challenge to his authority has been a riot in the western oil town of Zhanaozen and a nearby village in 2011 where police opened fire, killing at least 15 people.
“Now there is no united force which could resist today’s regime,” opposition activist Amirzhan Kosanov said. “This election is a staged show and buffoonery.”
Reuters
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