TOKYO -- Kazakhstan's presidential election -- the first since the country's president Nursultan Nazarbayev stepped down in March after a tenure of nearly 30 years -- ended with a landslide win by the current interim president Kassym Jormart-Tokayev. The victory by one of Nazarbayev's closest allies suggests that the 78-year-old former president will continue to have a significant influence over the country's politics.
Nazarbayev's carefully arranged transition could provide a hint or two for the country's neighbors and particularly for Russia's long-serving leader President Vladimir Putin.