The presidential elections have begun in the oil and gas-rich ex-Soviet republic of Kazakhstan. A good ten months after the bloody unrest, the 69-year-old incumbent Kassym-Jomart Tokayev is standing for the last time.

He wants to be elected to office in the Central Asian country after a constitutional change for seven years. Previously, the term of office was five years. The other five approved candidates are considered hopeless.

According to the central election commission, voter turnout was 38.5 percent by noon local time. According to the security authorities, the vote was quiet. Around twelve million people were called to vote in the country bordering China and Russia.

In March 2019, Tokayev ousted his authoritarian predecessor, Nursultan Nazarbayev, who had ruled Kazakhstan for around 30 years. In the June 2019 election, which was accompanied by police violence, Tokayev was elected with 70.96 percent of the votes. Nazarbayev, who retained wide-ranging powers even after his resignation, also cast his vote on Sunday.

Tokayev pushed through a constitutional amendment and initiated reforms after riots in January that left more than 200 dead. For Germany, the resource-rich country is the most important partner in Central Asia.

International observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) plan to give their verdict on the election on Monday. Among other things, they had previously criticized the fact that recommendations for easier registration of candidates for election or more transparency in media ownership had not been implemented.