Engels Gabbasov

Engels Ğabbasūly Ğabbasov (; 17 January 1937 – 11 July 2014) was a Kazakh politician and writer who was a Senator for West Kazakhstan Region from 1995 to 1999. Prior to that, he was a member of the Supreme Soviet of Kazakhstan from 1994 to 1995. Ğabbasov was a candidate in the 1999 Kazakh presidential election for the People's Union of Kazakhstan Unity.

Early life and education Ğabbasov was born in 1937 in the village of Furmanova (now Jalpaqtal) in a family of six children. In 1957, he graduated from the West Kazakhstan State University in Oral with a degree in Russian language and literature then in 1966, he graduated from the Higher Party School with a degree in journalism. In 1976, Ğabbasov completed his postgraduate studies at the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union in the direction of criticism and literary criticism. That same year, he earned candidacy in philology with his dissertation topic: "The artistic concept of personality in a modern historical-revolutionary novel".

1999 presidential campaign

On 22 October 1998, while serving as a Senator, Ğabbasov launched his bid for presidency for the People's Union of Kazakhstan Unity. On 30 November 1998, he was registered by the Central Election Commission as a candidate.

Although Ğabbasov had no rallies and only gave a limited amount of press interviews, he maintained a strong support mostly from rural areas. Ğabbasov ran on campaign mostly on environmental issues such as proposing to close the Baikonur Cosmodrome, claiming that it was harming the environment, as well as eliminate public health hazards and boost economic reforms. He also promised to create flexible system of farm subsidies and grant tax privileges to agricultural workers, as well as benefits for women with many children, continue in providing free secondary education and vocational training for young people and maintain free healthcare. At the same time, Ğabbasov avoided in criticizing President Nursultan Nazarbayev. He received 0.77% of the votes in the election, placing him in last place among other candidates.

Later life and death After retiring from politics in 1999, Ğabbasov continued enjoying his creative hobbies. In his last years, he felt very ill and eventually died on 11 July 2014 in his hometown of Oral at the age of 78 which his death only confirmed almost week later.