The Hill News

It’s time to answer the critics of Kazakhstan’s recent presidential election and to respond to their unfair and illegitimate charges that the Central Asian nation has failed to make real progress toward democracy.
 
President Nursultan Nazarbayev was reelected to another five-year term on April 3 by an overwhelming majority. The level of support reflected almost exactly what surveys have shown to be the electorate’s satisfaction with Nazarbayev’s leadership:  A poll in February by the International Republican Institute/National Endowment for Democracy, for example, showed that 90 percent of the Kazakh people approve of the way Nazarbayev is handling his job.
 
Still, some people have suggested the election was devoid of a real choice. Others have asserted that the election was rushed to ensure Nazarbayev’s victory. Neither assertion is true.

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