Kazakh leader ' WINS 95% of votes '

April 3, 2011 was last updated on 22 : 06 ET President Nazarbayev has been in power for more than 20 years, Exit polls from Kazakhstan the controversial presidential elections suggest incumbent Nursultan Nazarbayev 95% of the vote won.

The forecast is based on data from two different organisations, one of which reportedly 50,000 voters on the ex-Soviet State respondents.

Mr Nazarbayev, 70, is already more than 20 years in power.

Opponents say that they had not enough time to prepare for the election, less than two months ago.

But critics say that the opposition its weakness in having no strong candidate capable of challenging Mr Nazarbayev proven.

Under a constitutional amendment 2007 there is no limit on the number of terms in that the former Communist party boss in office can serve.

His current term was to have ended in 2012, but he called the early poll after a proposal to cancel the following two elections was ruled unconstitutional.

Three other candidates stood in Sunday elections: environmentalist Mels Yeleusizov, Gani Kasymov of the Party of Patriots of Kazakhstan and Zhambyl Akhmetbekov of of the people of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan.

' Prosperity before democracy '

After casting his vote on Sunday, President Nazarbayev said: "the task of the modernization of the State and society are still huge, so the vote today will determine our unity and our desire to satisfy our plans."

The preliminary results will be announced early on Monday, but Kazakhstan Association of sociologists and Politologists gave Mr Nazarbayev 94.82% of the vote, on the basis of an exit poll of 1.2% of those who voted.

The Institute of democracy polling 50,000 voters, and gave him 95.1%.

In the elections of 2005 won the Mr Nazarbayev 91.2%.

Almost 90% of the eligible voters of the country nine million casting their vote, the Electoral Commission said, up from 76.8% in the last elections.

Early voters and 18-year-olds casting their vote for the first time were rewarded with household goods such as food blenders and electric kettles, according to the Associated Press.

Campaign says for this poll was low-key – the most organized and visible by the main pro-presidential Nur Otan party, the BBC already Demytrie in Almaty.

Mr Nazarbayev has no real competition, our correspondent adds.

No elections in Kazakhstan have ever been convicted as free and fair by independent monitors.

"We have not fair elections in 20 years," said human rights leader Zauresh Battalova, a former member of the Senate.

The Organization for security and cooperation in Europe (OSCE) complained about the lack of transparency, competition and freedom of the media.

There were several reports that students were forced to vote by threats of expulsion from the University.

Writing in the Washington Post last week, Mr Nazarbayev argued that economic prosperity for democracy.

"Without this force, as we repeatedly all over the world have seen, stability has been compromised and democratic reform can founder," he argued.

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