Nazarbaev's Inauguration Set For April 8

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev

Kazakhstan's incumbent President Nursultan Nazarbaev will be sworn in to another five-year term in office on April 8.

The inauguration date was set by the Central Election Commission today, three days after the April 3 presidential election in which Nazarbaev won an overwhelming victory.

Official results showed Nazarbaev had won 95.5 percent of the vote, with a massive turnout of nearly 90 percent of all eligible voters. But monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said the election fell short of "genuine democratic" standards.

The opposition had called for a boycott of the election which featured three candidates who had all previously expressed support for Nazarbaev.

The 70-year-old Nazarbaev has led Kazakhstan for more than 20 years.

compiled from agency reports