And this principle extends to the press and even ordinary citizens. Even before the Leader of the Nation law, very few journalists would dare criticize the powers-that-be out of fear of getting into trouble. In fact, news on the President rarely goes beyond publishing official press releases. Asking a taxi driver about Nazarbayev will tend to result in a declaration of support, but if you ask about details you will get silence. And university students sign up for the Nurotan party believing it will advance their future careers.
In short, there probably were irregularities in the recent presidential election in Kazakhstan. And Nazarbayev would still have won easily without them.
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