This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/6952452.stm

The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 1 Version 2
Kazakhs elect reshaped parliament Kazakh ruling party 'leads poll'
(about 23 hours later)
People in Kazakhstan are voting in parliamentary elections which President Nursultan Nazarbayev hopes will improve his country's democratic credentials. Exit polls from Kazakhstan's parliamentary elections suggest that President Nursultan Nazarbayev's Nur-Otan party has won 80% of the vote.
He called the poll two years early to introduce a series of constitutional changes which expand parliament and introduce proportional representation. Mr Nazarbayev celebrated his apparent victory with a lavish concert for supporters in the capital Astana.
The country's state-controlled media has already hailed this vote as a landmark election. Polls indicated the main opposition group, the National Social Democratic Party (NSDP), fell short of the 7% vote share needed to enter parliament.
The changes would allow Mr Nazarbayev to run for office as often as he wants. Mr Nazarbayev called the poll two years early to amend the constitution.
More than 1,000 international observers have registered to monitor the vote, half of them from member states of the European security and democracy organisation, the OSCE. The changes removed any limit on presidential terms in office, expanded parliament and introduced proportional representation voting.
It is due to decide later this year whether to allow the Kazakh leader to chair the organisation in 2009. While Mr Nazarbayev's Nur-Otan party was widely expected to win the snap elections, the final result will not be known until Sunday.
Term limit lifted Unique position
Throughout the campaign, and in hundreds of speeches, articles and television appearances, the candidates from the governing Nurotan party have talked about the democratic change this election is about to bring. The president, who has ruled for 18 years, told some 3,000 supporters on Saturday night: "When we get the final results tomorrow, the country will start in a new political system.
The opposition says it wanted to argue but was not given a platform. "I am sure that Kazakhs have chosen the way of peace, consensus, prosperity and the improvement of the lives of all Kazakhs."
It says that state newspapers censored its statements, and all television stations refused to air its campaign advertisements. The BBC's Natalia Antelava in Astana says it seems that not a single opposition party has got into parliament in elections that Mr Nazarbayev promised would bring democracy to the country.
Still, says the BBC's Natalia Antelava in Astana, it is the first time in many years that the opposition is hopeful about its chances of getting into parliament. More than 1,000 international observers watched the polls, half of them from member states of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
Until now, the country's main opposition party has not had a single representative.
Low-key personality cult Q&A: Parliamentary electionsLow-key personality cult Q&A: Parliamentary elections
But the new legislature will reflect constitutional changes that make parliament bigger, in some ways more powerful and, the opposition hopes, more diverse. The OSCE is due to decide later this year whether to allow the Kazakh leader to chair the organisation in 2009.
President Nazarbayev says the changes show that he is serious about democracy. While early indications suggest the NSDP may not have made it into parliament, exit polls found another opposition party, Ak Zhol, hovering near the crucial 7% vote share barrier.
What undermines his words is that the new parliament will mean more power for the president, too, our correspondent says. The NSDP has complained that it was not allowed to run some of its adverts on national television and that criticisms levelled by its leaders in one TV debate were edited out.
The constitutional changes which brought about this election lifted a term limit for Mr Nazarbayev. Two-thirds of Kazakh voters turned out for the elections in the oil-rich country of 15m.
Once the country has a new parliament, the new constitution will be enforced and the president will also have the right to run for office as many times as he likes. It occupies a unique position among the ex-Soviet Central Asian states for having a large ethnic Russian minority.
That is why many here say this parliamentary election is mostly about President Nazarbayev. Voters were choosing 98 members of the lower house of parliament.
Once the country has a new parliament, the new constitution will be enforced and Mr Nazarbayev will have the right to run for office as many times as he likes.