ALMATY—As oil-rich Kazakhstan votes for a president Sunday, the governing elite is pounding home a mantra of stability as fears percolate about the country’s massive Russian minority taking inspiration from the Moscow-backed insurgency in Ukraine. With authorities clamping down on all opposition, Nursultan Nazarbayev’s re-election is a done deal. The former Communist party boss’ two rivals – a trade union leader and a Communist politician – have negligible public profiles and are standing only to create the illusion of competition. Instead of electioneering in the traditional sense, the 74-year-old Nazarbayev’s team is rehearsing well-worn refrains on social and ethnic harmony. …read more
Source: Egylovers
