Nursultan Nazarbayev, the "victor" in Kazakhstan's recent presidential election with 95 percent of the vote, claimed on this page April 1 that his country has a democratic destiny.

Nursultan Nazarbayev is a popular guy. By all accounts, the approval ratings for the president of Kazakhstan would be the envy of most democratically elected leaders. A poll conducted last year indicated that 89 percent of his compatriots had a favorable opinion of him, an incredible figure that was consistent with past surveys. The usual explanation is that he has successfully steered the economy of this energy-rich Central Asian state — and that his regime guarantees that he never faces any serious opposition.

Last Sunday, in another election with no genuine opponents, President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan won in a landslide. Observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe cited "serious irregularities." Like the deposed Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak, Nazarbayev has lifted the economy and public expectations but is vulnerable to resentment over corruption, a toxic brew.

Riot police staged a show of force in the capital of ex-Soviet Azerbaijan on Saturday to stop an unauthorised pro-democracy rally and detained dozens of protesters who defied the ban.

Alle reden über Gaddafi, die übrigen Autokraten nutzen die günstige Gelegenheit. So lässt Nursultan Nasarbajew, Herrscher in Kasachstan, sich schnell noch einmal wählen. Seine Gegner sind reine Zählkandidaten - und nur die mutigsten unter seinen Bürgern wagen einen Aufruf zum Wahlboykott.

Zentralasiatische Autokraten werden allmählich alt. Kasachstans Präsident Nasarbajew wurde zwar am Sonntag im Amt bestätigt, doch wie bei den Herrschern in den Nachbarstaaten steht eine Hofübergabe ins Haus.