President Nazarbayev, who has ruled Kazakhstan since before the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991, was quick to hail the election as “open and fair”.
Commenting on his victory, the 70-year-old Kazakh leader said: “The Kazakhs approve of the work I have conducted each day during these 20 years.”
While election monitors from the Commonwealth of Independent States, a loose association of former Soviet republics which includes Russia, recognised the election as “open and democratic”, officials from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe said it had been marred by “serious irregularities” and instances of “ballot box stuffing”.
Since becoming an independent country 20 years ago, Kazakhstan has attracted the attention of foreign powers due to its enormous mineral and hydrocarbon wealth. The Central Asian state has the potential to be one of the richest countries in the world.
Russia remains the dominant outside power in Kazakhstan, viewing the region as its backyard. Gazprom, Russia’s state-run gas company, is developing the country’s gas fields while Russia’s space launch pad is located at Baikonur, in the Kazakh steppe, about to celebrate 50 years since Yuri Gagarin orbited space from the complex.
However, Russian dominance is being challenged by the United States and China, both of whom regard the region as of immense geopoltical importance.
