Opposition parties most likely to mount a challenge were disqualified from competing or rendered largely powerless
Voters headed to polling stations in large numbers on Sunday in Kazakhstan elections that look to have slightly broadened democratic representation in parliament's rubber-stamp lower house.
The high turnoutof 75% is perhaps more an outcome of habit than hope, however, since the legislature will likely only undergo cosmetic changes.
An exit poll by Kazakh thinktank Institute of Democracy showed three parties possibly entering parliament. According to their data, President Nursultan Nazarbayev's Nur Otan party easily pushed aside its competition with 81% of the vote.
All the seats available in the former Soviet nation's 2007 election were won by Nur Otan. A 2009 law ensured at least two parties would enter the 107-member chamber by automatically granting seats to the party with the second-highest number of votes even if it did not receive the 7% share that is the threshold for proportional allotment of seats.
Nine deputies will be nominated on Monday by a presidential advisory body that represents the country's many ethnic communities.
The opposition parties that were most likely to pose a robust challenge to Nur Otan have been either disqualified from competing or rendered largely powerless.
Institute of Democracy said its survey showed the pro-business Ak Zhol party, which avoids confrontation with the government, and the People's Communist Party of Kazakhstan claiming 7.3%. Two other exit polls pointed to a similar outcome.
Another, more combative, communist party with a higher public profile was suspended for six months in October after a court found that it had violated law on public organisations, thereby ruling out its participation in the elections.
Prosperity and stability in Kazakhstan, mainly driven by its vast reserves of oil, gas and minerals, account for much of the support for Nur Otan and the president.
Kazakhstan is eager to boost its international image and hopes that a transition to a multiparty parliament will serve to improve its democratic credentials.