First and foremost, IFES again proves to be the most reliable provider of information. The head of the Kazakhstan mission, Jennifer Wilson, publishes her collection of news stories on the Kaz-elections group, the latest edition is just out (HT: Nathan).

The registration process for the December presidential election ended yesterday, officially initiating the campaigning period that will end two days before polling day. Each of the five candidates will be allocated $41,000 for advertising and organising their campaign.

92 international observers were accredited, shared between the OSCE, IFES, and the CIS Mission.

Update: This report from the same source puts the number of international observers to 600.

The five candidates are:

Nursultan Nazarbayev (OTAN)
Long-standing president of Kazakhstan, he is most likely to renew his term in office.

Zharmakhan Tuyakbay (For a Fair Kazakhstan)

Zharmakhan Tuyakbay was a deputy chairman of the pro-presidential Otan party and was elected to the new Majlis as No 1 candidate on the party list. Tuyakbay said he would give up his deputy mandate in the new Majlis and leave the Otan party over what he described in a newspaper article as unlawful actions by representatives of the executive bodies during the parliamentary election, held on 19 September 2004.

Yerasyl Abylkasymov (Communist Party)
Is known to the public for quite drastic words. When bans on religious parties were discussed in the Kazakh parliament, he said:

Communist party deputy Yerasyl Abylkasymov told Forum 18 that “in the time of Genghis Khan such ideological saboteurs were hung, drawn and quartered. Alas it is now unfortunately not possible to do this and so we have to defend ourselves by means of laws.”

Alikhan Baymenov (Ak Zol)
Co-chairman of the moderate opposition party Ak Zol that only has one deputy in the current parliament, but a growing number of members.

Mels Yeleusizov (Tabigat)
De facto independent candidate of the ecological Tabigat union. He evaluates his chances to win ‘rather highly’.

According to government media outlet Kazinform, it’s already clear who is going to make it:

The absolute leader of the five is the acting President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev. Almost all political analysts and experts consider the other nominees have no chances to confront his authority. For the last 15 years the country, led by its permanent leader, achieved impressive success in all spheres of life.

In other news: Happy Republic Day:

The President has also pointed out, we must cherish our political stability, friendship, mutual understanding and love to each other. Everything we do we do for the sake of our country’s future.