Astana (AsiaNews) – Outgoing Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev won another seven-year mandate in a landslide victory in Sunday's presidential elections. But observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OCSE) noted serious irregularities in the electoral process.

Nazarbayev, who came to power in 1989 as the local head of the Communist Party, won 91 per cent of vote (official results will be released in a few days). In 1991 he had won 98.8 per cent of the vote, and in 1999, 79.8 per cent.

In a statement, the OSCE said its 460 observers found serious irregularities during the vote count.

"The voting was generally calm and peaceful," but "there were harassment, intimidation and detentions of campaign staff and supporters of opposition candidates, including cases of beatings of campaign staff," it said. All this "limited the possibility for a meaningful competition".

"Unauthorised persons interfering in polling stations, cases of multiple voting, ballot box stuffing and pressure on students to vote were observed during voting and during the count," the statement also read. And observers saw "media bias in favour of Nazarbayev and legal restrictions on freedom of expression".

Overall "the authorities did not exhibit sufficient political will to hold a genuinely good election," said Bruce George, OCSE observer co-ordinator.

But President Nazarbayev insisted that voting was correct demonstrating the population's wish for the social peace and stability, for "evolution" over "revolution" unlike the Ukraine, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan where popular uprisings led to the removal of former Communists from power.

The elections took place, a local source told AsiaNews, at a time when the country is experiencing "great changes; peaceful, but tightly controlled".

"The benefits of the ongoing rapid economic development are not being shared by the whole population. Per capita income levels do not show that most people have not benefited from growth and for this reason there is widespread dissatisfaction".

Still, the authorities urged people to go out and vote. Even school teachers went from home to home telling people to vote. "Each teacher had to get a certain number of people to vote," the local source said.

"We think that this election was absolutely unfair, absolutely unlawful, and it's an obvious sign that our country is turning from an authoritarian regime into a totalitarian one," said opposition challenger Zharmakhan Tuyakbai, who secured just 6.64 per cent of the vote.

"We will take all legal measures to protest the official results of the voting and will press for this election to be declared invalid," he added.

The results were however a positive signal to investors, in particular oil companies in the United States, China and Russia, who were reassured that the billions of dollars in contracts they had negotiated with Nazarbayev will be maintained.

Opposition parties accused the West of putting its oil interests before democracy, of preferring to talk economic reforms and social stability with Nazarbayev rather than criticise his government.

Since the collapse of the USSR, Kazakhstan has maintained friendly relations with the Untied States and the West. In just a few years it is becoming one of the ten largest oil producers in the world thanks to its Caspian Sea oil fields.

Under Nazarbayev it has seen impressive economic development but also experienced corruption. Furthermore, opposition parties have been shut down, opposition leaders have been arrested and at least one anti-corruption journalist has been jailed. (PB)