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Kazakh President Re-elected; Voting Flawed, Observers Say

ASTANA, Kazakhstan, Dec. 5 - President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan secured a third term in office in the election over the weekend with an overwhelming victory, the country's election commission announced Monday, while a prominent international observer mission said the election did not meet democratic standards.

Mr. Nazarbayev, a former Soviet leader who has ruled here since 1989, received 91 percent of votes cast, according to official results. His closest challenger, Zharmakhan Tuyakbai, received 6.6 percent.

The margin, embraced by Mr. Nazarbayev and his government as a fresh mandate and a confirmation of his work modernizing this oil-rich state, was quickly challenged by the opposition. International observers described the election as flawed.

Kazakhstan has never held an election that met international standards. The independent observers, leaders of a 460-member mission from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, said the government's conduct in the campaign and on election day again limited the chance for meaningful competition and prevented voters from making a free, informed choice.

"Despite some efforts which were undertaken to improve the process, the authorities did not exhibit sufficient political will to hold a genuinely good election," said Bruce George, the British member of Parliament who led part of the team.

Among the problems, Mr. George said, were pro-government bias in the state media, voter intimidation and restrictions on freedom of press and assembly during the campaign, as well as ballot stuffing, multiple voting, pressure on students to vote for Mr. Nazarbayev and irregularities in the vote counting.

The observers largely blamed Mr. Nazarbayev. "This happened despite assurances from the president that elections would be free and fair," said Audrey Glover, who also led part of the team's efforts.

Speaking to reporters in the financial capital, Almaty, Mr. Tuyakbai, the second-place finisher, called the results "an unprecedented violation of our Constitution and laws" and warned that Mr. Nazarbayev had created "a totalitarian government."

Mr. Tuyakbai did not call for protests, alluding to worries of a violent crackdown and saying that the opposition would fight by legal means.

"We do not want to be responsible for the death of innocent people," he said. "We are considering our options, including gathering signatures for a referendum to force the president to make the democratic reforms he has promised us."

Mr. Nazarbayev won a seven-year term. The opposition, emerging in a nation where he has long dominated politics and is regarded by many Kazakhs as the father of the most successful post-Soviet Central Asian state, has limited support. Its chances for a meaningful challenge of the results seemed slim.

The consolidation of power occurs during a period of political reorganization through much of Central Asia.

The government in Kyrgyzstan fell after protests this year, and the new government has struggled to establish order and public confidence.

Uzbekistan, a highly repressive state, put down a prison break and an anti-government demonstration in Andijon in May with rifle and machine-gun fire. Survivors said the crackdown killed hundreds of people and led to the government's closer alliance with Russia and China, and its isolation from the West.

Against this backdrop, the race in Kazakhstan had been regarded as a test of whether Western notions of governing could still spread through the region, and whether Mr. Nazarbayev's government, dogged by corruption even as it generated more development than any other Central Asian state, would continue the reforms begun with the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Such questions were overwhelmed by the events of the day, as even the president's advisers appeared surprised by a margin of victory high enough to resemble the elections of President Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan and former President Saddam Hussein of Iraq.

"Our forecasts were based on 75 percent for Nazarbayev," Yermukhamet Yertysbayev, a political adviser to the president, said in a phone interview. He noted, as do many diplomats and citizens here, that Mr. Nazarbayev enjoyed genuine public support and was expected to win the race comfortably. But he added: "Frankly speaking we did not expect such a large gap."

Mr. Yertysbayev said the low opposition tally reflected a poor turnout among its potential supporters.

Christopher Pala contributed reporting from Almaty, Kazakhstan, for this article.

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section A, Page 5 of the National edition with the headline: Kazakh President Re-elected; Voting Flawed, Observers Say. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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