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Kazakh Leader Wins Landslide Election

   VOA News  April 04, 2011
   Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev (L) greets supporters during the
   "Forward, together with the leader" forum in Astana, April 4, 2011

Photo: Reuters

   Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev (L) greets supporters during the
   "Forward, together with the leader" forum in Astana, April 4, 2011

   Kazakh election officials say President Nursultan Nazarbayev has won
   Sunday's presidential election, stretching his rule into a third
   decade.
   The Central Election Commission said Monday the first official results
   show the incumbent has won 95.5 percent of the heavy voter turnout.
   Nazarbayev says the numbers prove the "Kazakh people approve of the
   work I have been doing these 20 years."
   Analysts predict President Nazarbayev, whose tenure began when
   Kazakhstan was part of the Soviet Union, will seek another term in
   2016.
   The 70-year-old leader's current term ends in 2012, but he called for
   snap elections after rejecting a proposed referendum that would have
   extended his rule until 2020.
   Analysts see the organizing of a snap election, in part, as an effort
   to preempt any revolt by bolstering Nazarbayev's democratic
   credentials. Meanwhile, the country's main opposition leaders have
   complained that there was not enough time to organize a meaningful
   campaign.
   The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) had
   about 300 observers monitoring the vote. Kazakhstan has never held an
   election deemed free and fair by international observers.

   Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.

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