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| Ruling Party Seals Expected Victory in Kazakhstan Vote | |
| 2016-03-22 | |
...has served as the President of Kazakhstan since the Fall of the Soviet Union and the nation's independence in 1991. Contrary to commonly held belief, there is a difference between Kazakhs and Cossacks: Kazakhs have mustaches. Or maybe it's the other way around... secured a landslide victory in parliamentary elections, results showed Monday, a poll OSCE observers said failed to meet international democratic standards. According to the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) Nazarbayev's Nur Otan party won 82 percent of votes in Sunday's election and will share parliament with the pro-government People's Communist Party and Ak Zhol, who each secured just over seven percent of the vote. The vote -- which saw little real opposition to Nazarbayev -- came as the ex-Soviet country sees its once-booming economy slump on the back of falling oil prices and an economic crisis in northern neighbor Russia, but the strongman's grip on power appears as firm as ever. Celebrating the victory with supporters on Monday, Nazarbayev -- who during the poll warned outsiders "not to rush" Kazakhstan towards democracy -- said he was in a "joyful state" following the announcement of the results. "Our party has won. The 77 percent turnout is a record and 82 percent of votes received for Nur Otan -- a record!" he said. "We demonstrated to the whole world open, direct voting on a competitive basis in the presence of thousands of international observers and journalists." But an international vote monitor mission headed by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said Monday that "genuine political choice" was "insufficient" in the vote and that the country "still has a considerable way to go" in meeting international standards for democratic votes. | |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 Seals are into politics in Kazakhstan? |
| Posted by: Grunter 2016-03-22 10:53 |