Kazakhistan President Nursultan Nazarbayev Seeks Another 5 Years in Early Election

Almaty:

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev said today he will seek re-election in a snap poll next month, which will almost certainly see him extend his 26 years at the helm of the oil-exporting nation by another five.

The authoritarian leader's decision to run in the election on April 26 will for now end speculation over his would-be successor, a question closely followed by investors.

"I declare my consent to run as presidential candidate," Nazarbayev said to applause from loyalists in his Nur Otan party, who had asked him to seek re-election earlier today.

"There is no bigger reward or happiness than to have the trust of my nation," he said in a speech broadcast live on national television from the capital Astana. "This inspires and invigorates me, and this is why I look youngish," the 74-year-old quipped with a smile.

Nazarbayev, a former steelworker nicknamed "Papa" and officially titled "Leader of the Nation", has run his Central Asian state since 1989 when he headed the local Communist Party.

He faces no real challenge from a small and disparate opposition in his steppe nation, a non-OPEC oil exporter five times the size of France.

A former member of the Soviet Communist Party's decision-making Politburo, he was last elected with almost 96 percent of votes in 2011. His current term ends only in late 2016.

Under Nazarbayev, Kazakhstan has put in place radical market reforms and attracted $170 billion in foreign direct investment.

But the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe said the previous presidential election was marred by irregularities and that "reforms necessary for holding genuine democratic elections have yet to materialise".

FALLING PRICES

The idea to hold a snap election was first raised in February by the Assembly of the People of Kazakhstan, a constitutional body led by Nazarbayev, with authorities describing it as an "expression of the people's will".

The country's docile parliament, heavily dominated by the president's party, quickly supported the initiative, saying the nation should rally around its leader at a time when Kazakhstan is beginning to experience economic difficulties.

Nazarbayev said the economy had grown at an average annual rate of 5.7 percent since 2011, and that Kazakhstan's per capita gross domestic product of $13,000 is the highest in the post-Soviet Commonwealth of Independent States.

But he also said a plunge in prices for Kazakhstan's oil and metal exports had cut budget revenues.

Opposition activist Amirzhan Kosanov said the country's biggest problem was not low commodity prices but Nazarbayev's leadership style.

"There is his personality cult, and no one dares to say something critical to him," he told Reuters. "He won't step down until he dies, so all talk of a successor is naive."