Associated Press
ALMATY, Kazakhstan--Voters in Kazakhstan turned out in abundance
at polling stations Sunday for a presidential election guaranteed
to overwhelmingly reconfirm the incumbent, who has ruled over the
former Soviet republic for more than 25 years.
The election is taking place against the backdrop of a slump in
economic growth and an air of anxiety over unrest in the nearby
countries of Ukraine and Afghanistan.
Nursultan Nazarbayev, 74 years old, wrote in an opinion piece
before the election that the vote would give the elected president
a clear mandate to lead the country through potentially troubled
times.
"The upcoming election will strengthen the stability of
Kazakhstan. This remains the main condition for the sustainable
development of our country and completing the large-scale tasks of
modernizing our economy and society," he wrote.
Mr. Nazarbayev's victory over his two nominal rivals, a trade
union official and a Communist politician, is all but a formality.
Polling stations are scheduled to remain open until 8 p.m. local
time.
Out of the several dozen voters questioned outside a polling
station at a school in the business capital, Almaty, only two
declared their intent to vote for Mr. Nazarbayev's rivals and the
stability message appeared to have driven home.
"I am voting for Nazarbayev, because I need no changes in my
life. I am happy with things as they are under the current
authorities," said Daniyar Yerzhanov, 43. "We businessmen don't
need the kind of democracy you get in Ukraine. We need stability
and predictability."
Riding high on the back of its oil, gas and mineral wealth,
Kazakhstan has posted healthy growth figures over the past two
decades, with the exception of a notable blip during the global
economic crisis in 2008.
However, low oil prices and the recession in neighboring Russia,
a large trading partner that has been hit with international
sanctions for its role in the unrest in Ukraine, are dampening
performance.
All international financial organizations see the country
continuing its growth trajectory this year and the next, but at a
far less impressive rate than previously.
The political unrest that led to the toppling of a
Russia-friendly leader in Ukraine in 2014 sent ripples of alarm
throughout authoritarian regions of the former Soviet Union.
Kazakhstan has watched with dismay the war that ensued there as
ethnic Russians were goaded by Moscow into mounting an armed
insurrection.
Kazakhstan has its own substantial Russian minority and worries
about the potential for such a large ethnic group to pursue a
separatist agenda similar to that seen in east Ukraine.
Mr. Nazarbayev did little campaigning for the election, but he
did dwell intensely on rehearsing well-worn refrains on social and
ethnic harmony.
The weekend presidential election was preceded Thursday by a
congress of the Assembly of Peoples of Kazakhstan, a talking shop
devoted to cultivating national unity. At the event, Mr. Nazarbayev
declared that the authorities would "robustly prevent any form of
ethnic radicalism, regardless from where it arises."
Mr. Nazarbayev will be almost 80 when the next presidential term
comes to a close, and many worry whether his health will hold out.
No clear succession plan is in place and with all semblance of
political competition having been snuffed out by the authorities,
uncertainty is strong.
One fear is that a successor to Mr. Nazarbayev could seek to
cheaply bolster their mandate by striking a populist nationalist
chord.
Those worries appeared not to faze voters in Almaty,
however.
"There are no alternatives to him. And he is taking Kazakhstan
along the right path," said government employee Yelena Burlakova,
44. "His age is of no concern. As long as he is breathing, we will
vote for him."
With no real alternative candidates on offer, anybody opposing
Mr. Nazarbayev is left only with the option of not voting at
all.
"A campaign of brainwashing has taken place over the past
quarter century and no alternative can and will be offered," said
artist Arman Bektasov, 30. "The people of Kazakhstan have only one
choice. What is the point of voting if the outcome has already been
decided?"