KAZAKHSTAN: Kazakhstan's ruling party enjoyed a commanding lead yesterday in parliamentary elections marred by severe criticism from European observers and the resignation of a cabinet minister over alleged irregularities.
With only electronic ballots counted, amounting to 18 per cent of votes cast, President Nursultan Nazarbayev's Otan (Fatherland) party had 42.7 per cent of votes, followed by the Asar (All Together) party run by his daughter, Dariga, on 19.5 per cent.
The Ak Zhol (Bright Path) opposition party was on 16.1 percent, but stole the headlines when its co-chairman, Mr Altynbek Sarsenbeyev, resigned from government after a scathing attack on what he called vote-rigging by Mr Nazarbayev's supporters.
"I find it impossible to be a member of the cabinet and part of an executive branch that has actively interfered in the election process, and participated in falsification of results of the people's votes," he said.
His complaints were echoed by the 55-nation Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), which said that more than half of its observers found unauthorised people in polling stations during the count.
After making earlier complaints about overwhelming pro-Nazarbayev bias in the media, the democracy watchdog concluded that Sunday's vote "fell short of OSCE commitments and other international standards for democratic elections".
