Kazakh election authorities on Monday refused to register a candidate for the upcoming presidential elections in April because he failed a language test.
Independent candidate Kaisar Ualikhan was deemed unfit to run for the presidency after making 28 mistakes in a compulsory Kazakh language test last week, Kazakhstan's Central Election Committee said. Russian is the second official language in Kazakhstan and is spoken by most citizens.
Long-standing leader Nursultan Nazarbayev called an early poll for April 3 after rejecting a planned referendum to extend his rule until 2020.
His candidacy was registered on Saturday after passing the language examination.
Nazarbayev, 70, has led Kazakhstan since it broke away from the Soviet Union in 1991, and is expected to win easily.
Observers say Nazarbayev's decision to drop the referendum plan was little more than window dressing aimed at boosting his international image.
ASTANA, February 14 (RIA Novosti)
