He was expected to increase his reign over the oil-rich country for seven years, with a strong mandate to pursue its independent foreign policy, as the former Soviet republic navigates the Russian-Ukrainian crisis.
“We can say that other people have expressed convincing confidence in me as president and in all of you,” Tokayev, 69, told his team earlier, referring to polls favoring him.
He “will go down in history,” the former diplomat added.
Voter turnout was 69. 44 percent, with five other hopefuls scoring under single digits, according to the data. The moment of maximum popular selection of the electorate “against all”, with 5. 8% of the votes.
Spurred on by exit polls, several Central Asian leaders congratulated Tokayev on Monday ahead of initial results.
Tokayev won his first election in 2019 with the backing of his predecessor Nursultan Nazarbayev, the two have fought this year amid violent unrest in the country of 20 million people, and Sunday’s vote cemented his strength as an independent leader.
(Reuters)