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Current Kazakhstan Leader Elected Third Time

For President Nursultan Nazarbayev, this is a happy time. The ruler of the who oil-rich Kazakhstan since Soviet times was recently re-elected to a third term Sunday. With an overwhelming majority vote it is clear to see that this man is the president of choice for the Kazakhstani people.

The Central Elections Commission said that Nazarbayev had won 91 percent of votes, according to the initial count. His closest challenger, Zharmakhan Tuyakbai, got 6.6 percent. The commission said 77 percent of registered voters cast ballots.

The assessment of international election observers likely will play a key role in how the opposition responds to the elections. A prominent mission led by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe was due to issue its initial assessment later Monday, as was a group of observers from the Russian-led Commonwealth of Independent States. The results were likely to undermine any opposition opportunity to claim a miscount in the presidential balloting in Central Asia`s most prosperous nation. But complaints are likely that the comparatively authoritarian government did not allow a genuinely free vote.