According to the exit poll of the Institute of Eurasian Integration, the ruling Amanat party in Kazakhstan won 53.46 percent of the votes in Sunday’s parliamentary elections, Reuters reports.

According to another exit poll, SOCIS-A, Amanat won 54.42% of the vote.

Kazakhstan held early parliamentary elections on Sunday that are expected to consolidate President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s power and complete a reshuffle of the ruling elite that began after he took full control last year.

Tokayev chose not to lead the ruling party, now renamed Amanat, but polls ahead of the vote showed he was likely to retain a comfortable majority and form the core of his support base in the legislature, especially in the absence of strong opposition parties in the election.

A stronger mandate would help Tokayev deal with the regional upheaval caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent damage to trade, investment and supply chains in the former Soviet Union.

Although he officially became president three years ago, Tokayev, 69, remained in the shadow of his predecessor and former patron Nursultan Nazarbayev until January 2022, when they parted ways amid an attempted coup and violent unrest.

Tokayev fell away from Nazarbayev after he quelled political unrest in the oil-rich Central Asian country and removed a number of his associates from top public sector jobs, some of whom were later indicted on corruption charges.

While Tokayev has reshuffled the government, the lower house of parliament, elected when Nazarbayev still held much power and led the ruling Nur Otan party, was not due to be elected until 2026, but the president called for an early vote.