NURSULTAN —In a lavish ceremony, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Kazakhstan’s leader since 2019 was re-elected as president, after an election where he won over 80% of the vote, according to national authorities.

He will rule for seven more years, without the possibility of another term, due to a recent constitutional amendment proposed by Tokayev himself.

However, with a short election campaign period that began in late October, candidates had little opportunity to mount significant challenges.

The election was criticized by observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe for its lack of pluralism and competitiveness.

Meanwhile, Tokayev has taken steps to keep Kazakhstan’s distance from its longtime ally, Russia.

He pointedly said the country did not recognize the Ukrainian regions that Moscow declared to be sovereign states at the outset of the conflict that began in February.

Kazakhstan has also taken in hundreds of thousands of Russians who fled after president Vladimir Putin issued a mobilization order in September. — Euronews