Kazakhstan set to vote amid western concern

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev is set to be elected to a third decade in power Sunday in largely ceremonial polls that have sparked Western concern about the expected ease of his victory.

The 70-year-old leader -- a man who built his own capital and now enjoys full command -- has never won a poll deemed as fair since first rising to head the republic in its Soviet era in 1989.

The former steelworker officially faces three minor challengers but even his aides say the man officially known as the "leader of the nation" should do better than the 91 percent he picked up in 2005.

Western governments have condemned previous elections and foreign observers will give a report Monday that is expected to highlight the uncompetitive nature of the vote.

"Members of parliament are hopeful that Kazakhstan will show marked progress with this election and do the work needed to live up to its international commitments," OSCE Parliamentary Assembly observer team spokesman Neil Simon told AFP.

Nazarbayev's team has heard the criticism before and Kazakh officials insist they are willing to move to a more flexible political system in which the president plays a more low key role.

"Checks and balances, this is a very important step," Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Massimov told AFP. "And for sustainable development in the future, checks and balances -- including of the political system -- are needed."

Low-key campaign

When Nazarbayev was last re-elected in 2005, with a 91.2 percent majority, turnout was 76.8 percent. There is no minimum turnout requirement.

According to a 2009 census, 47 percent of Kazakhstan's population lives in rural areas. In previous elections, voter turnout in the countryside has regularly exceeded 90 percent.

In Almaty, home to most opposition activists, there are some dissenting voices. Former railway worker Kuralbek Ansarkhan, 45, moved there from the city of Shymkent in search of odd jobs.

"I don't expect anything from these elections," he said. "The people should take their demands to the street. I'll be the first in line."

But such voices are rare in Kazakhstan, where average incomes are four times higher than in Egypt. So confident is Nazarbayev of victory, he abstained from nationwide campaigning.

The 2,000 residents of Aksu-Ayuly, like similar villages across Kazakhstan's wide open steppe have been won over by the president's mantra of "stability", which they say sets Kazakhstan apart from its volatile Central Asian neighbors.

In Aksu-Ayuly, the only clue to the forthcoming election was a handful of pro-Nazarbayev posters pasted to the window of a grocery store, as untethered cows wandered past.

"I will vote for Nazarbayev so we can live in peace and our community will flourish," said Bakhyt Iskakova, 56, as she swept the yard outside the local employment office where she works.

In the industrial city of Balkhash, 600 km (375 miles) north of Almaty, there was only one large billboard supporting Nazarbayev. None of his rival candidates advertise themselves.

"I will vote for Nazarbayev. And let me tell you this: my family and all my relatives will vote for him too. We don't need anybody else," said Saule Zhamberbayeva, a fruit and vegetable seller at the central bazaar in Balkhash.

Her fellow market traders broke into an impromptu chant of: "Nazarbayev! Nazarbayev!"

Two employees of the copper smelter that dominates Balkhash said they would vote for Nazarbayev. "The most important thing is stability," said 60-year-old technician Valery Shepayev.

Residents also attached little blame to the government for rising food prices, a trend that eased in March when monthly inflation slowed to 0.5 percent from 1.5 percent in February.

"This is the trend worldwide. It's not particular to us," said Stanislav Tsoi, a pensioner in a wide-brimmed cowboy hat.