Kazakh elections slammed as flawed

OPPOSITION leaders called for Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s election victory to be declared invalid, while Western-led observers said the vote that gave him 91% support was flawed.

Similar criticisms by international observer missions were key in establishing an air of legitimacy for mass protests that helped bring opposition leaders to power in the other former Soviet states of Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan over the past two years.

But in oil-rich Kazakhstan, as in Azerbaijan’s contested parliamentary elections last month, the opposition’s options appeared to be limited by the comparatively authoritarian regimes under which they live.

The Central Elections Commission said Mr Nazarbayev won 91% of the votes in Sunday’s elections, while Zharmakhan Tuyakbai, his closest challenger, won 6.6%. Some 77% of registered voters cast ballots.

An array of exit polls had indicated Mr Nazarbayev would win with 70% to 80% of the vote.

Kazakhstan, which borders both Russia and China, has vast oil and gas reserves that are a potential alternative to Middle East petroleum, and its stability matters greatly to the US and Western Europe.

Under Mr Nazarbayev, Kazakhstan has manoeuvred between Washington, Moscow and Beijing. With Russia and China, it is a member of the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation that has called for US bases in the region to be closed. At the same time, a small Kazakh contingent is part of the US-led coalition in Iraq.

Mr Nazarbayev has led the nation of 15 million since 1989 when it was still a Soviet republic.

The Organisation for Security and Co-operation criticised the election campaign, saying the opposition was denied equal coverage in state media and its supporters faced intimidation, beatings and seizure of campaign materials.