Kazakh veteran leader Nazarbayev wins new term by a landslide

Kazakhstan's President and presidential candidate Nursultan Nazarbayev casts a ballot during a snap presidential election in Astana April 26, 2015. REUTERS/Mukhtar Kholdorbekov

ASTANA (Reuters) - Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev won a new term at the helm of Central Asia's largest economy by a landslide in Sunday's election, the Central Election Commission (CEC) said.

Nazarbayev, a 74-year-old former steelworker who has ruled the oil-rich nation since 1989, won 97.7 percent of the vote, CEC head Kuandyk Turgankulov told a news briefing on Monday. Turnout was 95.22 percent, he said.