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President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev is broadly anticipated to win Sunday’s election over 5 little-known candidates.
Polls have closed in Kazakhstan, the place the incumbent President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev is broadly anticipated to safe a simple victory in a snap election, solidifying his grip on energy lower than a 12 months after he sidelined his long-ruling, authoritarian predecessor.
The Sunday election comes after bloody unrest shook the nation this 12 months and Tokayev moved to stifle the affect of former President Nursultan Nazarbayev.
5 candidates had been on the poll towards Tokayev, however with a brief marketing campaign interval that started in late October, that they had little alternative to mount important challenges. Opinion polls have predicted not one of the 5 different candidates would rating within the double digits.
Tokayev, apparently assured of holding a powerful benefit, stayed away from a nationally televised election debate.
The previous diplomat, who got here to energy in 2019 as Nazarbayev’s hand-picked successor when the 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 – a foregone conclusion towards the 5 little-known candidates – will give Tokayev, 69, the type of overwhelming private mandate that Nazarbayev routinely secured as he constructed a character cult over 5 successive phrases.
Tokayev stated on Sunday that he would proceed “resetting” the political system by calling an early parliamentary election subsequent 12 months. Tokayev stop the ruling Amanat celebration this 12 months and oversaw reforms making it simpler to determine new political events.
The nationwide elections fee stated about 69 % of the voters had voted by the top of the day (14:00 GMT). Knowledge from a number of exit polls might be revealed after midnight (18:00 GMT) and preliminary outcomes of the vote are anticipated on Monday.
The election for a seven-year time period comes as Tokayev has taken steps to maintain Kazakhstan’s distance from longtime ally and dominant regional energy Russia. Tokayev referred to as on Russian assist to place down the unrest, however has since averted giving public backing to Russia’s warfare in Ukraine.
Russia is Kazakhstan’s greatest buying and selling companion, and Russia’s slide into recession has harm Kazakh financial progress, whereas the power of the rouble boosted by capital controls has helped push inflation in Kazakhstan to a 14-year excessive.
Police detained a number of dozen individuals who staged small-scale protests towards the vote in Almaty, calling it unlawful, in response to opposition teams and native media. Police stated some had been quickly launched, whereas others confronted misdemeanour prices.
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