Medvedev congratulated Nazarbayev on his victory

In today's telephone conversation Russian President Dmitriy Medvedev congratulated his Kazakh counterpart on the victory in the presidential election. “Medvedev phoned the President and heartfully congratulated him on the successful elections and a 'more than convincing victory'," RIA Novosti quoted the Kremlin press-office as saying. Nazarbayev thanked Medvedev for warm congratulations and kind wishes. According to preliminary information from the Central Election Commission, Nazarbayev received 95.5 percent of the votes in the presidential elections. Chinese leader Hu Jintao was one of the first among foreign leaders to congratulate the incumbent president on his victory. Nazarbayev competitors in the elections were Senator Gani Kassymov (1.9 percent), communist Zhambyl Akhmetbekov (1.4 percent) and ecologist Mels Eleusizov (1.2 percent).