rferl 9/4/98
HAS KAZAKH PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN BEGUN?
There is growing speculation in Kazakhstan that President Nursultan Nazarbayev has already begun his presidential campaign, RFE/RL correspondents reported on 3 September. Nazarbayev has made several tours of the country's regions recently, sparking rumors in the local press that he is seeking to get a head start and will bring forward the presidential election, currently scheduled to take place in 2000. Kazakh economists are forecasting that an economic crisis in Kazakhstan will peak toward the end of next year. In order to avoid holding elections when his popularity could be diminishing, Nazarbayev may opt to hold early elections. Opposition parties are reportedly now gravitating to former Prime Minister Akezhan Kazhegeldin as an alternative presidential candidate to Nazarbayev. BP