In Kazakhstan, the residents were not under much tension today when the polls closed today (Sunday): President Kassim-Jomart Tokayev, who held a snap election, won over 80 percent of the kosher votes shortly after 8:30 p.m. Israel time, thus being "re-elected" for a seven-year term , which will actually be his first full term.
Tokayev came to power in 2019 after President Nursultan Nazarbayev, who ruled the country since the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, handed over the reins to him.
However, even though Tokayev became president, the shadow of the former ruler, who considered himself the father of the nation, continued to be felt until early this year, when Tokayev accused him of destabilizing the country through a popular protest intended to stage a coup.
The elections held today were allegedly between the incumbent president and five other candidates who in fact remain unknown in the public mind, and according to official publications the percentage of the vote was about 70 percent.
The overwhelming victory with the counting of the ballots is expected to give Tokayev, at least in appearance, public legitimacy like his predecessor in office, who also "won" the trust of the people for five terms.
During the riots in January of this year, in which 238 people were killed, the previous president was transferred from the other positions he had held since he retired, thus Tokayev consolidated his position and felt safe enough to hold snap elections.
During the months since the fighting, Tokayev even purged the former president's loyalists and even changed the name of the capital back to Astana (instead of Nur-Sultan, after the president's name had been promoted).
Tokayev promised that he would only serve two terms and promised to work towards closing the gaps in society between the different strata.
Also, he intends to "reboot" the political system through parliamentary elections next year.
Kazakh President Tokayev at the polling station on Sunday, photo: EPA
The big question is whether Tokayev will turn his back on Russia, as he began to do in recent months when he refused to support Russian statements regarding the annexation of parts of Ukraine.
Tokayev will likely be careful not to do this all at once, as economically Kazakhstan has the largest land border with Russia, which is considered the Central Asian country's main trading partner.
Recently, when he hosted President Vladimir Putin as part of a regional conference, he did not hold a bilateral meeting with him, in a relatively unusual manner.
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