Preliminary Results Give Kazakh President Landslide Win

President Nazarbaev (Left) and his daughter, Dariga, (Right) leaving a polling station in Astana on 4 December (epa) 5 December 2005 -- Kazakhstan's Central Elections Commission says a preliminary count of ballots from the country's poll on 4 December shows President Nursultan Nazarbaev won 91 percent of the vote.

Election commission Chairman Onalsyn Zhumabekov today said Nazarbaev's closest challenger -- Zharmakhan Tuyakbai of the For a Just Kazakhstan movement -- received 6.6 percent of the vote.

Zhumabekov said final results are not due for another 10 days but will not likely vary significantly.

Shortly after the announcement, Nazarbaev told a rally in an Astana sports center that his reelection to another seven-year term is "a victory for the country, for all Kazakhs."

Nazarbaev -- who has ruled the country since 1989 -- vowed to double salaries and pensions during his next term, and to bring per capital income to the level of Eastern European countries.

Tuyakbai and at least one other candidate have disputed the results, saying they have information of numerous election irregularities.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe is due to issue its report on the election later today.

(Reuters/AFP/AP)