1st LD: Nazarbayev re-elected with record-high support rate

Preliminary results announced by Kazakhstan's Central Election Commission (CEC) showed that incumbent President Nursultan Nazarbayev won more than 97.7 percent of the votes in the presidential election, granting him another five years in office.

According to the CEC, ruling Nur Otan party candidate Nazarbayev won 97.7 percent of the votes, Communist People's Party candidate Turgun Syzdykov won 1.6 percent, self-nominated candidate Abelgazi Kusainov won 0.7 percent.

The commission said the turnout rate was 95.22 percent, which deputy chairman of the CEC Vladimir Foos called "unprecedented."

At a press conference on the election day, Nazarbayev promised to implement reforms in his next term. "If the people of Kazakhstan trust me again, my first step is to create a commission to implement all five institutional reforms that I announced," he said.

Nazarbayev said the commission will include various subcommittees to push forward complex reforms, adding that Kazakhstan has entered the second stage in the country's development where transparency and openness will be improved.

During his campaign, Nazarbayv put forward the idea of establishing a modern and highly efficient government, promoting the rule of law as well as boosting economy through industrialization and diversification.

On Sunday, 9741 polling stations opened from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. to receive more than 9,510,000 voters across the Central Asia's largest country to elect their next president.

Most analysts had expected Nazarbayev to win with overwhelming support, as his rivals were no match for him in terms of political resources, experience and prestige.

Nazarbayev is the first and so far the only president of Kazakhstan since the country's independence in 1991. He has kept a support rate of more than 90 percent in all previous elections.

The parliament of the country approved an amendment in 2007, allowing Nazarbayev unlimited participation in future presidential elections. Endi