Nursultan Nazarbayev, who is poised to cruise to victory in Kazakhstan’s presidential election on April 3, has resided at the pinnacle of the Central Asian nation’s political system for more than two decades. But his roots stretch back to a village standing in the shadows of the snow-capped Tian Shan Mountains.
Kazakhstan’s president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, caught his critics, including opposition political leaders, non-governmental organization activists and youth group members, off-guard with the decision to hold a snap presidential election April 3.
It’s 7 pm on a Thursday night and the editorial staff of Kazakhstan’s Respublika weekly newspaper has been designing pages for most of the day. As they deliver the approved and copy edited pages, printer Sabit Imanbayev fires up the two Risograph machines, wipes off excess ink and gets the cool printers rolling.
