Olympic Hopeful Kazakhstan "Re-Elects" Longtime President

(ATR) The president of Kazakhstan reportedly received 97.7 percent of the vote in winning re-election to a new five-year term.

Since 1989, Nursultan Nazarbayev has led Kazakhstan, which is hoping to host the 2022 Winter Olympics in Almaty. He had only two opponents, both seen as pro-government figures.

The opposition party did not put forward a candidate. Human rights groups have accused the Kazakh government under Nazarbayev of systematic suppression of the opposition.

Voter was reported at 95.1 percent of the nearly 10 million eligible voters.

"Polls show that most people in Kazakhstan do support their president," said Al Jazeera journalist Robin Forestier Walker. "The appearance of democracy may be enough for them - even if it’s not the same as the real thing."

The official title for Nazarbayev, 74, is "Leader of the Nation." His country of 17 million has the second largest economy in the former Soviet Union and has produced the second-most oil after Russia.

The election was called to bring stability to the country in the wake of falling oil prices and tension between Russia and Ukraine.

"I am sure Kazakhstan’s people will vote primarily for the stable development of our state and the improvement of people’s lives, as well as the stability of the state and in support of the policies the country has implemented under my leadership. I am confident of this," Nazarbayev told the BBC prior to the election.

Almaty is one of two bidders to host the 2022 Winter Olympics, along with Beijing. The winner will be selected at the IOC Session on July 31 in Kuala Lumpur.

Whichever city is selected will give Asia its third straight Olympic host after PyeongChang and Tokyo.

Written by Nick Devlin

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