ASTANA, December 5 (RIA Novosti) - Nursultan Nazarbayev, the incumbent president of the Central Asian republic of Kazakhstan, cruised to an easy victory in Sunday's elections with a preliminary 91% of the vote, the country's top election official said Monday.
Onalsyn Zhymabekov said Zharmakhan Tuyakbai, the leader of the For Just Kazakhstan movement, had won 6.64 % of the vote; Alikhan Baimenov, the chairman of the Ak Zhol (Bright Way) party, 1.65%; parliament member Yerasyl Abylkasymov 0.38%; and independent candidate Mels Yeleusizov 0.32%.
After the preliminary official results had been announced, Nazarbayev, who has been in power for the entirety of the Kazakhstan's independence, told a gathering of supporters: "The people voted for unity, accord, and friendship. It said 'yes' to all these ideas."
"All the newswires of foreign agencies are saying that Nazarbayev won. But I am sure that the Kazakh people won, who judged my work, and the strengthening of the economy and the country," he said.
The incumbent president thanked everyone who had voted from him, and said he did not take a negative view of those people who voted against him. "I know that some people do not have jobs, and there is not good water everywhere," he said. "And all my work will be directed toward solving the problems of these people. I am confident that they will also be with me."
Nazarbayev thanked international observers and journalists who had attended the elections. "We held unprecedentedly open, fair elections," he said.
He also thanked his opponents, and invited them to work with him. "We need an opposition, we are looking for new ideas," he said, but added that criticism should not be made for the sake of criticism.
Nazarbayev said the standard of living had rise in the past seven years, with pensions, grants, and state salaries all climbing. He also promised that GDP per capita would equal the level in eastern European countries.
