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Kazakhs hold vote for first new leader in decades
ALMATY, Kazakhstan, June 9, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Kazakhs went to the polls
Sunday to elect their first new leader in 30 years following the departure of
ex-president Nursultan Nazarbayev with his handpicked successor set for
victory.
Career diplomat and interim president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, 66, is running
for the ruling party with enthusiastic backing from authoritarian Nazarbayev,
who stepped down from the presidency in March.
The 78-year-old strongman’s departure shocked Kazakhs who had lived under
his rule since Soviet times but he is still expected to call the shots in the
oil-rich Central Asian state of 18 million people.
Tokayev has six rivals in the polls that opened at 0100 GMT including one
low-key opposition figure, but none are widely known in Muslim-majority
Kazakhstan.
Tokayev, by contrast, has won endorsements from pop stars and film actors,
and appears to have the weight of the state machine behind him.
Both men voted early in the capital Nur-Sultan.
After voting at around 0400 GMT at the lavish state opera house in the
capital Nur-Sultan, Tokayev spoke in English with reporters, and acknowledged
that Nazarbayev “was still in power in the capacity of chairman of the
security council… and other capacities”.
Responding to concerns about police crackdowns on protests ahead of the
vote, Tokayev pledged his administration would be “building up a dialogue
with all those who support the government and those who are against the
government”.
Marat Sagyndykov, a retired 65-year-old former civil servant in the largest
city Almaty said he had voted for shoo-in Tokayev “in order to continue the
course of the Leader of the Nation”, referring to Nazarbayev’s
constitutionally designated status.
“I think in 30 years we have had some successes. There have been negatives,
too, but they exist in all countries,” Sagyndykov told AFP.
Speculating on the outcome of the tightly-controlled vote, Tokayev’s
campaign chief told journalists Friday that he predicted victory but without
the overwhelming backing enjoyed by Nazarbayev.
“I think Tokayev will receive the support of the majority of the
population, but to aspire to the figures that Nursultan Nazarbayev received
would be inappropriate,” said campaign chief Maulen Ashimbayev in comments
reported by Russian news agency Interfax.
One of the two Kazakh polling agencies permitted by authorities to operate
in the run-up to the vote found Tokayev would win nearly 73 percent of the
vote.
Four years ago Nazarbayev scored nearly 98 percent of a virtually
uncontested vote where the official turnout was 95 percent.
No Kazakh vote has ever been recognised as fully democratic by the
Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which has sent
more than 300 observers to monitor this election.
– Transition ‘an illusion’ –
One of Tokayev’s first acts after taking over as interim president was to
propose that the capital Astana — which Nazarbayev transformed from a steppe
town into a million-strong city — be renamed “Nur-Sultan” in honour of his
mentor.
The change went ahead without public consultation.
Ivan Sedov, a 42-year-old entrepreneur from Almaty said he had voted for
Daniya Yespayeva, 58, the only woman on the ballot “in the spirit of
protest…and so that no-one else votes for me.”
“I don’t support this power transition. I think it has been rushed through.
There aren’t any (real) candidates to choose from,” Sedov told AFP.
There is only one openly opposition candidate in the race, journalist
Amirzhan Kosanov, who has a track record of criticising the government.
However, he has come under fire for a lacklustre and tepid campaign where
he has vaguely criticised the system, rather than attacking either Tokayev or
his predecessor directly.
The buildup to the vote was marked by an intensifying crackdown on the
opposition with courts sentencing protesters to short stays in jail and
police raiding activists’ homes.
Human Rights Watch called the prospect of a genuine political transition
“an illusion” and noted the persistence of rights abuses under Tokayev’s
presidency.
“Kazakh authorities routinely break up peaceful protests, forcibly round up
participants — sometimes literally binding their hands and feet — and
sanction them with warnings, fines, and short-term imprisonment,” the
watchdog said.
Nazarbayev’s foreign-based political nemesis, fugitive banker Mukhtar
Ablyazov, called for protests in cities across the country on Sunday and
Monday.
BSS/AFP/GMR/1201 hrs