European Forum

Nazarbayev’s overwhelming election victory marred by fraud

On Monday 4 April partial results were released of the Presidential election on the 3rd of April in Kazakhstan. The results said that incumbent President Nursultan Nazarbayev secured 95.5 per cent of the votes. Zhambyl Akhmetbekov, head of the Communist People's Party of Kazakhstan, a pro-government splinter group of the original Kazakh Communist Party, received 1.4 per cent of the vote and pro-government Senator Gani Kasymov 1.9 per cent. The environmentalist Mels Yeleusizov, who on Sunday said he had voted for Nazarbayev, picked up 1.2 per cent, according to the partial count. The three rival candidates all openly expressed their support for Nazarbayev and the opposition argued they had been placed in the field by the government to make the vote look legitimate.

Election observers from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) have complained about a lack of transparency and competition in the vote. Official voter turnout was said to have been almost 90 per cent, but there were early indications that it had been artificially boosted. There were reports of threats of expulsion against students who failed to vote and incentives like small household appliances for young voters. RFE/RL reported that some voters received a coupon after they cast their ballot and were told they must show the coupon to their employers to prove they had participated. Also did a RFE/RL reporter witness "carousel voting," in which people are transported to multiple polling stations to cast votes.

Nazarbayev, 70, has ruled Kazakhstan unchallenged since the 1980s, when it was still part of the Soviet Union. He has argued that economic strength must come to ensure stability ahead of democratic reform, touted the election as a sign of national unity behind his plans. This latest election, held two years earlier than originally planned, was called after a proposed referendum to extend Nazarbaev's term to 2020 was rejected by Kazakhstan's Constitutional Council. Only one party, Nazarbayev's Nur Otan, is represented in parliament. But as he cast his vote in the capital Astana, Nazarbayev insisted Kazakhstan is "an open society and a democratic one".

Sources: RFE/RL, AlJazeera, BBC, Photo: Flickr Lyalka