Kazakh Opp names election candidate

ALMATY: Kazakhstan’s opposition on Saturday nominated Zharmakhan Tuyakbai as its single candidate to challenge veteran President Nursultan Nazarbayev in a December election.

The oil-rich Central Asian state has never held polls judged free or fair by international monitors, and the opposition warns that a rigged vote on Dec. 4 may spark nationwide protests. Nazarbayev, who has ruled since 1989, says Kazakhstan is immune to revolutions like those which unseated the long-serving leaders of former Soviet Ukraine, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan because his state is far more prosperous.

But Tuyakbai said no one should be starry-eyed about Kazakhstan’s fast economic growth that has been spurred by a massive influx of easy petrodollars. reuters

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