KAZAKHSTAN: Kazakhstan's president Nursultan Nazarbayev was heading for a landslide re-election victory last night in a vote condemned by the opposition as rigged.
The president, who has led the world's ninth-largest nation for 14 years, was predicted to win up to 90 per cent of votes by some polls, but opposition candidate Zharmakhan Tuyakbai (58) said he had received widespread reports of fraud.
In Astana, the capital city created by Mr Nazarbayev from the country's new oil wealth, officials devised a festive mood in polling stations, featuring music, dancing girls and free gifts for voters.
Mr Nazarabayev (65) arrived at his polling station, a converted theatre, to be given tulips by girls in traditional embroidered silk dresses and serenaded by a 12- piece string orchestra in evening dress playing Vivaldi.
"I am sure that the Kazakh people will choose political stability, friendship, and unity," said Mr Nazarbayev. "We will maintain the stability of our country."
Shrugging off allegations of media domination and harassment of opponents, he added: "This year's election is being held in unprecedented democratic conditions."
In a city overflowing with oil wealth, it is hard to find anyone to disagree - literally.
Of 140 voters leaving a nearby polling station, just six told exit pollsters they supported opposition candidates. "He is our man, he is a friend of the nation," said Ana (59). "I am an ethnic Russian and I can tell you he treats us well. There is no discrimination."
Gani (30), an engineer, said he backed Mr Tyakbai's campaign to share the oil wealth among Kazakhstan's population. "I want Kazakhstan to choose progress. I like everything about Tyakbai."
Voting in the opposition stronghold of Almaty, the former capital 960 km (600 miles) to the south and still the country's commercial centre, Mr Tyakbai said the government was not meeting international fair voting requirements.
Security forces are on alert in the south, where the border with Kyrgystan was closed amid fears that leaders of that country's pro-democracy revolution last March might try to cross.
In the capital, the government showered elderly and first-time voters with presents at the capital's polling stations.
Anna (81), a second World War veteran, arrived with a chest heavy with campaign medals and left with a free electric iron. "They gave it to me, it was nice but I don't want it, I will give it away," she said. "I like Nazarbayev because we have peace here. He is a good man."
Election officials say the presents are given regardless of how people vote. "We give presents for those who voted for the first time - irons, kettles, toasters," said polling station supervisor Raise Dembitskaya.
The only intimidation on display was on the eardrums, as polling stations across the city hosted rock bands, DJs and dancing girls in traditional silk pyjamas.
"There is a fairness about the way it is being held," said Avraham Berkowitz, a rabbi seconded by Israel as one of 1,400 international monitors. "There's an incredible sense of tolerance. I am a rabbi and not of their faith, but I did not get any double-takes, only respect."
Unofficial exit polls predicted between 60 and 90 per cent support for the president, with official results coming today.
Ten years ago Astana was a dusty one-horse town named Akmola or "white grave." Then the president moved the capital here from the historic Almaty, renamed it Astana, which means "capital", and the oil boom took care of the rest.
With billions of petro-dollars to play with, he has created a capital that is a cross between Las Vegas and Legoland. A bird's eye view of the city comes from inside a golden ball atop a steel tower called the "tree of life" which, from a distance, resembles a golf ball sitting on its white tee.
The centre of attention is Mr Nazarbayev's handprint, set into a 6kg golden ball. Visitors are invited to place their own hand inside the print. Staff said this weekend they had not considered the contingency that a new president might be elected and a new handprint made. "We have no plans to move it," said Indira, a guide.