AFP/Astana
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev is set to win a third decade in power today in a largely ceremonial election that has sparked Western concerns about democratic standards in the energy-rich state.The 70-year-old leader – a former steelworker who has built his own capital and now enjoys full command – has never won a vote deemed as fair since first rising to head the republic in its Soviet era in 1989.He now faces three minor challengers amid open suggestions from top advisers that a president who now also bears the title of “leader of the nation” merits a better performance than the 91% he picked up in 2005.Western governments have condemned previous elections and foreign observers will deliver a report tomorrow that is expected to highlight the uncompetitive nature of the vote.“Members of parliament are hopeful that Kazakhstan will show marked progress with this election and do the work needed to live up to its international commitments,” OSCE Parliamentary Assembly observer team spokesman Neil Simon told AFP.The vote has also been marred by mystery surrounding the fate of the missing publisher of Golos Respubliki (Voice of the Republic) – the country’s most outspoken critic of the president’s unflinching hold on power.The paper’s reporters believe Daniyar Moldashyov was abducted shortly after being attacked outside his home and the Committee to Protect Journalists said that it was “gravely concerned” for the publisher’s fate.An aide to the president said the alleged disappearance was probably aimed at spoiling the world’s perception of today’s election while other top officials promised political reforms that would open the system to outside voices.“Checks and balances, this is a very important step,” Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Massimov told AFP. “And for sustainable development in the future, checks and balances – including of the political system – are needed.”One suggestion would see Kazakhstan – with no clear successor to Nazarbayev in place – becoming a parliamentary republic reminiscent of a European state.Nazarbayev’s advisers said that the process would take time but eventually make the republic a full-fledged partner of the West.“The role of parliament has been steadily growing in our society,” presidential aide Nurlan Yermekbayev told AFP.“You have to understand Nazarbayev’s unique role in Kazakh society. He is our first and only president,” Yermekbayev said. “The next leader will not be the same.”Such promises have been dismissed as either too vague or unconvincing by opposition leaders who are boycotting the elections en masse.“We have not had fair elections in 20 years,” said former Senate member and current human rights leader Zauresh Battalova. “We are hoping that the next elections will be different. But all we can really do is hope and fight.”This scepticism stems from concerns about Nazarbayev’s political instincts.Kazakhstan was on course to hold a referendum extending the president’s rule through 2020 until the plan raised public worry in the United States.A critical statement from the US embassy in Astana – which was issued amid the social revolutions sweeping veteran leaders from power in the Arab world – was soon followed by a January court decision proclaiming the measure illegal.The Kazakh prime minister said the timing was nothing more than a coincidence.“I am absolutely confident that the decision (to drop the referendum) had nothing to do with any criticism or with any decision from the outside,” Massimov said.“President Nazarbayev ... has made a very strong decision for himself and got the support of the population to move toward a Western-style democracy.”But then he added: “You can’t do it right away. It takes time.”