The presidential elections in Kazakhstan on Sunday proceeded as expected, with no one doubting that incumbent President Nursultan Nazarbayev would win, and the country partying away the day as it has done since Soviet times.
The national TV channels all broadcast entertainment shows and concerts, music was laid on at polling stations, and entire families came out to vote together.
The first family was no exception, with Nazarbayev voting in the capital, Astana, along with his wife, Sara, their eldest daughter, Dariga, and their middle daughter, Dinara, as well as her husband, Timur Kulibayev.
Nazarbayev made the traditional comments to the press after voting, declaring the election "historic," because "this year is the 20th anniversary of Kazakhstan's independence."
"We have overcome a lot, but the challenges are still enormous," said the man who has run the country for every one of its 20 years of independence. "Today's vote will determine our future."
As is also traditional, turnout was high, with opposition calls for a boycott apparently falling on deaf ears. The Central Election Commission reported that around 90 percent of eligible voters had done their civic duty, though they had no real need to - under Kazakh law, the election is valid even if just one voter makes it to the polls.
One of Nazarbayev's three opponents even said he had voted for the president, out of "respect."
"I am confident that the incumbent will win, so I voted for him," ecologist Mels Eleusizov told reporters in Almaty. He added that his family had also voted for Nazarbayev, but left no one any the wiser why he had run against him.
ASTANA, April 3 (RIA Novosti)
