Activist Group - Parliament may stick to Referendum rathern than Election to maintain Nazarbayev Presidency

    The Kazakh parliament may insist that a referendum be held to extend President Nursultan Nazarbayev's tenure to 2020, despite the president's veto of such a referendum, a pro-referendum group said Monday.
    Kazakh law provides for such a possibility, Kazakh Telegraph Agency cited head of the group Yerlan Sydykov as saying.
    The group, named "people's initiative," was formed in late December to pursue a referendum that would bypass a presidential election and directly extend Nazarbayev's presidency for another decade.
    On Thursday, the Kazakh parliament approved a petition to the president, who has ruled the country for some two decades and enjoys big popularity among Kazakhs, for ratifying some amendments to the Constitution and holding a referendum.
    But President Nazarbayev vetoed the petition on Friday.
    However, the Kazakh parliament can override the veto by an 80-percent majority of the vote of lawmakers.
    During the two-decade rule of Nazarbayev, who is called "Papa" by many Kazakhs, the country, the world's leading uranium miner and a major oil and gas exporter, has attracted more than 150 billion US dollars in foreign investment and noticeably improved its economy and people's living conditions.
    The "people's initiative" group has already collected 3.6 million signatures in support of the referendum, in contrast to the required minimum of 200,000.
    Nazarbayev, a former steelworker, announced in September that he would seek a new term in a 2012 election. He expected no serious challenge to his continued rule.
    Nazarbayev, 70, has ruled Kazakhstan for 21 years. He became the first elected Kazakh president in 1991 after the country's independence. In 1995, he won a referendum on extending his term to 2000.
    He again won presidential elections in 1999 and 2005. His current term expires in 2012, Kazakhstan Today said.