Nomination of Presidential Candidates kicks off in Kazakhstan

    Sergey Guneev
    The Nomination of presidential candidates starts in Kazakhstan on Saturday and will end on February 20.
    The Central Asian country will hold early presidential elections on April 3, in line with a presidential decree published on Friday by official Kazakh media.
    President Nursultan Nazarbayev, 70, who has ruled the country since the breakup of the Soviet Union, proposed on Monday the holding of early presidential polls instead of those scheduled for 2012.
    The move came after Nazarbayev rejected a referendum prolonging the president's term until 2020 following Monday's ruling by the country's Constitutional Council that said the proposed referendum was unlawful and would run against the country's constitution.
    Nazarbayev's decision not to hold the referendum was praised by the European foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton as being in Kazakhstan's long-term interests.
    The European Union earlier warned that the holding of the referendum instead of the scheduled elections would contravene Kazakhstan's commitment to democracy.
    Nazarbayev is respected by the country's population and is almost certain to win the election. Only one opposition leader, Bulat Abilov, has so far voiced the intention to run for president, Ria Novosti said.