Kazakh chief headed for enormous election victory, exit polls present By Reuters

ALMATY (Reuters) -Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev was headed for a landslide victory in a snap election on Sunday, in response to exit polls, solidifying his grip on energy lower than a 12 months after he sidelined his long-ruling predecessor Nursultan Nazarbayev.

The previous diplomat, who got here to energy in 2019 as Nazarbayev’s hand-picked successor when the Central Asian nation’s solely ruler for the reason that Soviet period stepped down, broke together with his ex-patron after a January rebellion that Tokayev referred to as a coup try.

A brand new election victory – polls confirmed him profitable between 82% and 85% of the vote – will give Tokayev, 69, the kind of overwhelming private mandate that Nazarbayev routinely secured as he constructed a persona cult over 5 successive phrases.

Nazarbayev, who had held on to essential posts after stepping down, gave them up in the course of the rebellion early this 12 months during which 238 folks died. Tokayev has since compelled Nazarbayev allies to relinquish different positions, and adjusted the identify of the capital – renamed “Nur-Sultan” in Nazarbayev’s honour – again to Astana.

Tokayev referred to as in Russian assist to place down the January unrest, however has since saved his distance from Moscow, avoiding giving public backing to Russia’s battle in Ukraine.

Russia is Kazakhstan’s largest buying and selling associate, and Russia’s slide into recession has harm its neighbour’s financial system, whereas the power of the rouble, boosted by capital controls, has helped push inflation in Kazakhstan to a 14-year excessive.

Tokayev, a former international minister and deputy secretary-general of the United Nations, has overseen constitutional reforms which restrict his personal rule to 2 phrases. He has additionally promised to cut back earnings inequality by rooting out corruption and redistributing wealth extra pretty within the nation of 19 million folks.

The presidential election had initially been scheduled for late 2024, however was moved up after January’s unrest and a subsequent constitutional referendum. Tokayev mentioned on Sunday he would proceed “resetting” the political system by calling an early parliamentary election subsequent 12 months. Tokayev give up the ruling Amanat social gathering this 12 months and oversaw reforms making it simpler to determine new political events.

Opinion polls have predicted not one of the 5 different candidates would rating within the double digits in Sunday’s vote.

“Amongst those that are working for president, I solely know Tokayev, firstly,” Timerlan Sadykov, a resident of Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest metropolis, mentioned on the eve of the vote.

“And secondly, the way in which he is carried out himself on the worldwide stage has been very interesting.”

One other Almaty voter, a 35-year-old supervisor who solely gave his first identify, Serik, mentioned he voted towards all candidates.

“… I believe the powers that be should realise they’ve given us no actual selection,” he mentioned.

Police detained a couple of dozen folks in Almaty who staged small-scale protests towards the vote, calling it unlawful, in response to opposition teams and native media. Police mentioned some had been quickly launched, whereas others confronted misdemeanour fees.

By the point polling stations closed throughout Kazakhstan at 9 p.m. native time, 69.4% of voters had solid their ballots, the Central Election Fee mentioned. Preliminary outcomes of the vote are anticipated on Monday.