William J. Dobson
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.
(AP) —Kazakhstan's longtime leader overwhelmingly won re-election in a vote sharply criticized Monday by international monitors who cited numerous cases of ballot box-stuffing, voter intimidation and a lack of transparency.
