Kazakhstan, Astana, Feb. 2 / Trend A.Maratov /
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev's refusal from referendum on extending the presidential term in any case not linked to events in Egypt, Kazakh political analyst Eduard Poletayev said.
President Nazarbayev on Monday refused to hold a referendum to extend the presidential term until 2020, and offered to hold early elections this year, thereby reducing his term by two years.
"President Nazarbayev's refusal [is not] in any way connected to events in Egypt. This is a completely different situation," Poletayev told Trend.
He said one should take into account the fact that Hosni Mubarak is the third president in Egypt, not the first, as in Kazakhstan.
"We should also track the chronology of events. The idea of a referendum appeared in Kazakhstan long before the events in Egypt. And the decision on early elections was a logical continuation of the current situation in the Kazakhstan society," he said.
Earlier, commenting on President Nazarbayev's decision, Poletayev said that the current president "has shown himself as a savvy politician who has proved that [he] can control the situation to this day and knows how to win at all."
Poletayev admits that for him, as for the analyst, such an outcome was interesting, because "here exists a drama and Kazakhstan policy differs with stability and the absence of some bright ideas, thanks again to stability, because we are not Ukraine and countries of the Arab world."
He said the main creator is the president himself here. "What happened in the country since the day when the initiative was launched to conduct a referendum?" It was quite interesting. And the final hit all. It was an unexpected twist, as all were waiting for the dissolution of parliament, and after the presidential address, most of the experts focused on the fact that the referendum would take place," he added.
Poletayev said that Nazarbayev, therefore, created a positive glow of passion towards himself as a politician.
"Now we're all wondering who will decide to compete in elections -- everyone interested who are candidates, where to find them, and how they can mobilize. But five million people is not a joke, so I think that more than 50 percent of the population would vote for the incumbent president, "he concluded.
70-year-old Nursultan Nazarbayev has been in power for over 20 years. According to polls, Nazarbayev enjoys the support of 90 percent of the population. Last year he was awarded the status of "Leader of the Nation."
A massive campaign to collect signatures in support of the referendum, instead of the presidential elections, was unfolded in Kazakhstan in recent weeks of the last and in the first weeks of this year. For just a few weeks, the initiative group collected more than five million signatures out of the minimum required 200,000 in support of the referendum.
The initiative was supported by all major state agencies, as well as commercial and public organizations. However, Nazarbayev himself has refused to sign amendments to the constitution by sending them to the discussion of the constitutional council, which recognized the referendum legally incorrect and contrary to the foundations of democracy.