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Kazakh president Nazarbayev says he will run in snap election on April 26

The announcement came at the 16th congress of the Nur Otan Party (Radiant Fatherland) which he heads

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev ITAR-TASS/Mikhail Metsel

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev

© ITAR-TASS/Mikhail Metsel

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ASTANA, March 11./TASS/. Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev will run for president at snap elections from the Nur Otan Party (Radiant Fatherland) which he heads, Nazarbayev said at the 16th party session on Wednesday.

"On the basis of our successes which you know about, we must move forward to strengthen out statehood. That is why I came here and making a speech in front of you, I will probably agree with you on my nomination as a candidate," Nazarbayev said.

It was reported earlier that Nazarbayev’s candidacy was put forward for consideration of the participants of the 16th session of the Nur Otan Party. Public figure Kenzhegali Sagadiev put forward the initiative. The snap elections will be held on April 26.

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Nazarbayev has been the leader of Kazakhstan since 1989. Then, he served at the First Secretary of the Central Committee of Kazakhstan’s Communist Party. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Nazarbayev was elected president. In 2007, the parliament granted him the right to run for president as many times as he wanted.

Head of the Institute of Social Policy at the Nur Otan Party Sayasat Nurbek told TASS that the position of the session’s participants will be clear: "The session is important, but more from a technical side. The main issue is to choose a candidate from the Nur Otan Party for the upcoming elections."

Head of the Kazakhstan’s public fund "World of Eurasia" Eduard Poletayev said alternative candidates are not very likely to emerge. "It is possible only in the case when the head of state will point and this person and ask to support his candidacy," Poletayev told TASS.

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Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev Elections

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