Kazakhstan President Nazarbayev wins re-election
Baku, April 4 (AZERTAC). Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev has won an crushing election victory, saying he now has "carte blanche" to continue national reform.
The country`s Central Election Commission said he had won 95.5% of votes, based on partial results.
Mr Nazarbayev, 70, told supporters he would "continue the course of economic, political and social reforms".
Opponents said they did not have enough time to prepare for the election, but critics say the opposition was weak.
They said the anti-Nazarbayev opposition was not able to have a single strong candidate capable of challenging the president.
Under a 2007 constitutional amendment there is no limit on the number of terms the former Communist Party boss may serve in office.
His current term was to have ended in 2012, but he called the early poll after a proposal to cancel the next two elections was ruled unconstitutional.
Three other candidates stood in Sunday`s election: environmentalist Mels Yeleusizov, Gani Kasymov of the Party of Patriots of Kazakhstan, and Zhambyl Akhmetbekov of the Communist People`s Party of Kazakhstan.
Later on Monday the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), which sent nearly 400 international observers to Kazakhstan, is due to give its own assessment of Sunday vote.
The OSCE had complained about the lack of transparency, competition and media freedom.
There is no doubt that Nursultan Nazarbayev is a popular leader - but the figure of 95.5% of the vote might surprise even his supporters.
After casting his vote on Sunday, President Nazarbayev said: "The task of modernising the state and society are still huge, so today`s vote will determine our unity and our desire to fulfil our plans."
Two exit polls quickly gave him an unassailable lead: Kazakhstan`s Association of Sociologists and Politologists gave Mr Nazarbayev 94.82% of the vote, based on an exit poll of 1.2% of those who voted, while the Institute of Democracy gave him 95.1%, based on a sample of 50,000 voters.
In the 2005 election, Mr Nazarbayev won 91.2%.
Nearly 90% of the country`s nine million eligible voters cast their ballot, the electoral commission said, up from 76.8% at the last election.
Early voters and 18-year-olds casting their ballot for the first time were rewarded with household goods such as food blenders and electric kettles, according to the Associated Press.
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