ASTANA, December 5 (RIA Novosti) - A senior official from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe said Monday that the organization's observers detected violations during Sunday's presidential elections in the Central Asian republic of Kazakhstan.
"The high voter turnout caused a number of cases of overcrowded voting stations, threatening the confidentiality of voting," Tadeusz Iwinski said.
However, Iwinski stopped short of calling the election fraudulent, instead expressing hopes for the country's democratic future.
"The results of the presidential elections concluded in Kazakhstan will give the elected president the possibility of putting the country on the road to democratic development."
President Nursultan Nazarbayev, who has been in power for the entirety of the Central Asian republic's independence, cruised to an easy victory with about 91% of the vote.
Iwinski said he hoped Nazarbayev would continue reforms to reduce the inequality between city and rural areas.
"PACE is ready to offer all its extensive experience to the president and parliament of Kazakhstan in order to carry out a range of needed reforms," he said.
