On April 5, 2011, the Central Election Committee of Kazakhstan made public the official results of the latest presidential elections, in which the incumbent President Nursultan Nazarbayev won a landslide victory. Nazarbayev obtained 95.5 percent of the public vote, convincingly outbidding his three competitors. Senator Gani Kassymov, leader of the Kazakhstan Patriots’ Party, is credited with 1.9 percent of the ballots, while Zhambyl Akhmetbekov of the Communist Party, and Mels Yeleusizov who represents the independent environmentalist organization “Tabigat”, managed to secure only 1.4 percent and 1.2 percent of the total number of voting bulletins, respectively. Almost 90 percent of the Kazakhstani public are said to have presented themselves at polling stations on April 3.

The 2011 presidential contest was attended by over one thousand international observers and 200 journalists. Both the Executive Committee of the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, which had seconded observer missions to monitor the electoral process, noted the high level of transparency and openness ensured at various polling stations, including those in remote rural areas. The truly critical comments were made by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which stated in its Interim Report of April 3 that “the absence of opposition candidates and of a vibrant political discourse resulted in a non-competitive environment”. According to the OSCE, “the legal framework has key shortcomings inconsistent with OSCE commitments, including restrictions on freedom of assembly and freedom of expression”. A rather ambiguous reaction was soon emitted by the US Embassy in Astana in which it “urge[d] the Government of Kazakhstan to rapidly address the shortcomings the [OSCE] report highlighted”. At the same time, it expressed confidence that US-Kazakh relations would follow the same positive trend as has been registered in recent years.

Long before the outcome of the presidential elections was made public, Nazarbayev had started to receive congratulations from colleagues all over the world. The first two were the leaders of Russia and China – Dmitry Medvedev and Hu Jintao, followed by Nicolas Sarkozy, Angela Merkel and many others. Speaking at a public gathering organized on Monday morning by his supporters from the NurOtan party, Nazarbayev averred that Western countries were sincerely surprised with the election results, as Kazakhstan has maintained internal stability and interethnic unity despite all the troubles in the surrounding world where bloodshed, internecine violence and economic difficulties are taking their toll.

At an ensuing press conference, Nazarbayev promised to continue with the necessary reforms and confirmed his commitment to equally friendly and productive relations with Russia, China, the US, the EU and Kazakhstan’s other important partners. The Leader of the Nation specifically stressed the importance of strengthening judicial authorities, fighting corruption and further developing local accountability in the regions. He also lingered over the outstanding role of media, whose freedom will now be guarded with increased vigilance. Answering a question about the clues to Kazakhstan’s smooth and peaceful development, Nazarbayev said that only stability can guarantee peaceful coexistence of various peoples in a nation. In his view, recent revolutions in North Africa rolled the respective countries’ economies back to 15-20 years ago, whilst Kazakhstan has succeeded in ensuring a 12-fold increase of its GDP since 1991 and will continue to grow and thrive.

A few days later, on April 8, Nazarbayev was inaugurated for the fourth time since Kazakhstan’s independence. After reading a traditional sermon, kissing the flag and receiving the presidential identity card, he made a brief speech outlining the course of reforms awaiting his country in the next 10 years. According to the president, Kazakhstan should now focus on the four priorities of modernization, national well-being, innovation and integration. The reelected head of state said the Government will soon start selecting “100 absolute innovations” which will lay the basis for the country’s industrial and technological leadership. By 2030, Nazarbayev expects Kazakhstan to be admitted into the global camp of highly developed nations. Thus, the implementation of a historic policy paper – “Strategy for Kazakhstan until 2030”, adopted in 1997, will largely be accomplished.

On the same day, the Government of Kazakhstan presented its resignation to the President, but a few hours later Nazarbayev, who held a traditional meeting with the deputies of the Parliament’s lower chamber, resubmitted the candidacy of Prime Minister Karim Massimov for approval. He specifically commended Massimov’s role in establishing a trusting relationship with the Parliament and his professionalism in carrying out post-crisis reforms. On April 11, President Nazarbayev proceeded to ministerial appointments, replacing the occupants of the Ministries of foreign affairs, economic development and trade, agriculture and a few others. Concurrently, Kazakhstan’s number two – President of the Senate Kassymzhomart Tokayev – is already preparing to depart for Geneva, where he will head the UN Office as Director-General.