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Kazakhstan’s Nazarbayev wins presidential election

Monday, 27 April 2015 8:14 AM [ Last Update: Monday, 27 April 2015 8:14 AM ]

An electoral commission official invites Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev (L) to cast his ballot at a polling station in the Kazakh capital, Astana, April 26, 2015. (© AFP)

Kazakhstan’s incumbent President Nursultan Nazarbayev has secured a landslide victory in the Central Asian country’s presidential election, Kazakhstan’s election body says.

The 74-year-old Nazarbayev garnered 97.7 percent of the votes in the Sunday election to secure a fifth consecutive five-year term, the Central Elections Commission said in a report on Monday.

According to the commission, the turnout in the election was a record 95.22 percent. Some 9.5 million people were eligible to vote in the country of around 17 million.

Electoral commission officials count presidential election ballots at a polling station in the Kazakh capital, Astana, April 26, 2015. (© AFP)

In power since 1991, Nazarbayev was contested by two low-profile candidates in the election, namely Turgun Syzdykov, the leader of the Communist People’s Party of Kazakhstan, and Abelgazy Kusainov, the head of the national federation of trade unions.

The election was held a year earlier than scheduled. The decision to hold a snap vote came after advisory body Kazakhstan People’s Assembly said the president required “a new mandate of people’s trust to ensure the country can withstand the period of global hardship.”

The president has pledged economic and social stability in the oil-rich country, which is facing a slowdown in economic growth over falling oil prices and insecurity in the region due to the crisis in Ukraine.

The Eastern parts of Ukraine have witnessed deadly clashes between pro-Russia forces and the Ukrainian army since Kiev launched military operations in April last year to crush pro-Russia protests there.

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