Kazakh President Tokayev wins re-election

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev secured a second term in Sunday’s snap election, winning 81.31 per cent of the vote, the central Asian nation’s Central Election Commission said on Monday, citing preliminary data.

He had been widely expected to extend his rule over the oil-rich nation by seven more years, with a strong mandate to continue his increasingly independent foreign policy, as the former Soviet republic navigates the Russia-Ukraine crisis. “We can say that the people have expressed convincing confidence in me as president and all of you,” Tokayev, 69, had told.