ALMATY, Kazakhstan — Kazakhs on Sunday voted in presidential elections expected to cement
incumbent
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s grip on power, months after deadly unrest
spurred a historic shift in the Central Asian country.
اضافة اعلان
The last polling
stations in the former Soviet republic closed at 3pm, and the first exit polls
are expected around 6pm.
The victory of
President Tokayev is all but a foregone conclusion as the 69-year-old faced no
real opposition.
Last January,
Kazakhstan sank into chaos during protests over high living costs which left
238 dead.
Tokayev — once a
steady hand known for lacking charisma — showed a ruthless side earlier this
year by violently suppressing protests.
Kazakhstan has
since then stabilized but tensions persist, as shown by the arrest on Thursday
of seven opposition supporters accused of an attempted coup.
Authorities on
Sunday detained around 15 protesters demanding free and fair elections in the country’s
largest city Almaty, AFP journalists witnessed.
An interior
ministry spokesman confirmed to AFP that 15 people were detained.
No competition
Hoping to turn over a new leaf after a turbulent year, Tokayev had said
he was seeking a “new mandate of trust from the people” in this election.
After voting
early on Sunday in the capital
Astana, Tokayev said “the main thing is that
there is no monopoly of power”.
But if Tokayev
announced reforms, the promised “new Kazakhstan” feels like a deja-vu, with a deserted
political landscape, hardly credible opposition and political pressures.
AFP journalists
saw voters taking selfies in front of the polling stations in Astana and the
economic hub of Almaty, but this was not a show of excitement.
Many said they
would be “required” to show it when going back to work on Monday.
Critics are still
sidelined and all five of Tokayev’s competitors are virtually unknown.
This left
19-year-old student Alya Bokechova thinking that going to the polls “would be a
loss of time”.
“We already know
who will win and we don’t know the other candidates,” she told AFP.
Just days before
the vote, seven people linked to exiled opponent Mukhtar Ablyazov were arrested
over accusations they were planning a coup.
Tokayev also said
glorifying those who took part in the January protests was “unacceptable”.
Observers from
the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) criticized
Kazakhstan’s failure to meet electoral recommendations, including “conditions
of eligibility and registration of candidates”.
Hoping for a change
But his promises of democratic and economic reforms resonate with some
voters.
Voting for
Tokayev, police officer Nurlan N. said: “Since independence 30 years ago,
almost nothing changed, I would like to see some significant changes.”
Casting her
ballot in Almaty, 68-year-old pensioner Murzada Massalina said “Tokayev is the
suitable candidate because he has a lot of experience.”
Tokayev came to
power in 2019 after winning 70 percent of the vote in an election whose outcome
was inevitable after he obtained the backing of former ruler Nursultan
Nazarbayev.
For the following
two-and-a-half years, he played a role of loyal protégé.
But that changed
after protests erupted in January and Tokayev ordered law enforcement to “shoot
to kill” demonstrators.
Tokayev then
distanced himself from his former mentor Nazarbayev, purged his clan from
positions of authority and promised a “new and just Kazakhstan”.
He announced
reforms, a constitutional referendum and introduced single presidential terms
of seven years.
The Kazakh leader
also stood up to
Russian President Vladimir Putin, as Moscow’s invasion of
Ukraine shocked former Soviet republics.
The offensive
reawakened Kazakh concerns that Moscow may have ambitions on the north of the
country, home to three million ethnic Russians.
In response,
Tokayev strengthened his country’s ties not only with China, but also with
Europe.
The leaders of
Turkey and China visited Kazakhstan, as well as many high-ranking European
officials and Pope Francis just this year.
Tokayev also
directly clashed with Putin on a visit to Saint Petersburg in June.
He said Moscow’s
move to recognize Ukrainian separatist regions — that it has since claimed to
annex — would “lead to chaos”.
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