Kazakh Opposition Protests Election Results

On January 17, some 200 opposition supporters rallied in Kazakhstan's largest city, Almaty, to protest the results of the country's January 15 parliamentary elections. Opposition activists burned a copy of the election results, vowing to continue defying authorities until their demands for "free elections" are held. Preliminary official results indicated that three parties -- the Nur Otan party of President Nursultan Nazarbaev and two pro-government parties, Aq Zhol and the Communist People's Party -- won entry to the new parliament.