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Nazarbayev's Nomination

Kazakhstan's long-ruling leader has been nominated to seek re-election in April's presidential vote.

The ruling Nur Otan party on Friday named President Nursultan Nazarbayev as its candidate in the April 3 vote.

Nazarbayev, who has ruled the Central Asian country since the 1991 Soviet collapse, holds almost-unchallenged power and is almost certain to win the vote.

Kazakhstan has never held an election deemed free and fair by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which it chaired in 2010.

The parliament, in which all seats are held by Nazarbayev supporters, last month called for a referendum on extending the president's rule by at least another decade. But that move was ruled unconstitutional, and Nazarbayev called

early elections.


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