03 April 2011 | 20:22

Сandidate Yeleusizov explained why he voted for Nazarbayev

Mels Yeleusizov. By Vladimir Dmitriev©

Environmentalist presidential candidate Mels Yeleusizov said that by voting for Nursultan Nazarbayev he shook the winner’s hand, Tengrinews.kz reports. Yeleusizov walked into the Central Election Commission’s headquarters later today and was surprised to hear journalists ask him about the reason behind his voting for Nazarbayev. “Oh, so you already know. Are you shocked?” he said. Then he explained that he decided to act as a sportsman would after a match. “Sportsmen always shake hands after a match. And by my vote I expressed respect to the winner," Mels Yeleusizov said. Asked what he expects from the election campaign he said: “I am not expecting anything special, because all that is happening is absolutely natural. He is an obvious and well-defined winner," he said speaking of Nazarbayev. He added that the goal of his election campaigning was to attract greater attention to environmental issues, “to speak up about ecological problems from the high podium.” He said he considers his task fulfilled. Asked about the high voter turnout he said that people have become more politically mature. “People understand that they need to take part in the election” because their votes matter, he said.

Environmentalist presidential candidate Mels Yeleusizov said that by voting for Nursultan Nazarbayev he shook the winner’s hand, Tengrinews.kz reports. Yeleusizov walked into the Central Election Commission’s headquarters later today and was surprised to hear journalists ask him about the reason behind his voting for Nazarbayev. “Oh, so you already know. Are you shocked?” he said. Then he explained that he decided to act as a sportsman would after a match. “Sportsmen always shake hands after a match. And by my vote I expressed respect to the winner," Mels Yeleusizov said. Asked what he expects from the election campaign he said: “I am not expecting anything special, because all that is happening is absolutely natural. He is an obvious and well-defined winner," he said speaking of Nazarbayev. He added that the goal of his election campaigning was to attract greater attention to environmental issues, “to speak up about ecological problems from the high podium.” He said he considers his task fulfilled. Asked about the high voter turnout he said that people have become more politically mature. “People understand that they need to take part in the election” because their votes matter, he said.