Former leader’s hand-picked successor wins Kazakhstan presidential election by landslide

Hundreds arrested after opposition supporters urged boycott of ‘fixed election’ at protests across the country

Foreign observers claim there were ‘widespread voting irregularities’ and vote ‘showed scant respect for democratic standards’

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Kazakh police detain demonstrators in Almaty on Sunday. Photo: AP

Published: 3:23am, 10 Jun 2019Updated: 7:39pm, 10 Jun 2019

The hand-picked successor of Kazakhstan’s long-time ruler has won a sweeping victory in a presidential election, authorities said on Monday, after a voting day marred by protests and arrests.

But foreign election monitors insisted the vote showed little respect for democracy.

Police detain an opposition supporter during a protest on Sunday. Photo: EPA

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev took 70.8 per cent of the vote in Sunday’s election, the Central Election Commission said, with his nearest rival, opposition candidate Amirzhan Kosanov, taking 16.2 per cent.

Tokayev’s victory was never in doubt after he received the blessing of former president Nursultan Nazarbayev, who led the Central Asian nation for three decades before his shock resignation in March.

But the vote Sunday was marked by the biggest protests the Muslim-majority country has seen in at least three years, as demonstrators urged a boycott of what they said was a fixed election.

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