Kazakh ruling party scores landslide win

ASTANA, Jan 16: The ruling party of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev was declared the landslide winner Monday of snap polls in which two nominally-opposition groups won parliament seats for the first time.

Sunday's vote had been called early to breathe new life into a system under which the 71-year-old leader put economic prosperity before political freedoms and ensured that his Nur Otan party dominated most aspects of daily life.

The outcome nevertheless had never been in serious doubt and early results had Nazarbayev's party winning 80.74 percent of the vote.

Nur Otan will be joined in parliament by the pro-business Ak Zhol (Bright Path) party which garnered 7.46 percent of the vote and the Communist People's Party of Kazakhstan -- a largely pro-government group that won 7.2 percent.

None of the other four parties contesting the poll in the resource-rich nation broke through the seven-percent threshold and will remain shut out of parliament.

The only vehemently anti-government group -- the All-National Social Democratic Party (OSDP) -- won just 1.59 percent of the vote.

"This is our shared victory," Nazarbayev told his supporters moments after the results were announced. "This means that the people of Kazakhstan will continue supporting our course of stability and unity."

The anti-government opposition has already alleged that the elections were marred by flagrant violations. But Nazarbayev said on Sunday that the polls were "unprecedented in their transparency, openness and honesty".

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