Ruling party secures victory in Kazakh parliamentary polls
Source: Yahoo7 News / AFP
Astana (Kazakhstan) (AFP) - Projected results showed energy-rich Kazakhstan's ruling party claiming a comfortable win in early parliamentary polls on Sunday that never threatened to trouble autocrat President Nursultan Nazarbayev's long reign.
An exit poll conducted by the local Institute of Democracy research group put Nazarbayev's ruling Nur Otan on 82 percent, meaning it will dominate a parliament likely to contain two other parties.
The vote came as the ex-Soviet country sees its once-booming economy slump on the back of falling oil prices and an economic crisis in northern neighbour Russia, but Nazarbayev's grip on power appears as firm as ever.
The 75-year-old strongman -- who has ruled Kazakhstan virtually unopposed since before its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 -- was elected to a new five-year term last year with 98 percent of the vote.
Read more: https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/world/a/31146271/kazakhstan-goes-to-polls-in-parliamentary-vote/
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The purpose of the meeting, then Kazatomprom President Moukhtar Dzhakishev told The Times, was to discuss Kazakhstan potentially buying a 10% stake in Westinghouse, a US nuclear company. Becker's 2008 story also noted one of Giustra's companies secured a deal to buy uranium deposits from Kazatomprom in 2005.
That agreement was made after Clinton accompanied Giustra on a trip to Kazakhstan. During the trip, Giustra and Clinton met with Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev. Clinton issued a statement praising the Kazakh leader despite his questionable, antidemocratic record. The Times called the praise a "propaganda coup" for Nazarbayev.
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http://www.businessinsider.com/nyt-reporter-clinton-lied-about-meeting-2015-4
