Kazakh presidential candidate applies for Guinness Book of Records

ASTANA. March 12. KAZINFORM Leader of the Tabigat (Nature) environmental union Mels Eleusizov, the only self-nominated presidential candidate in Kazakhstan, has applied for a place on the Guinness Book of Records. He plans to hold a nation-wide tree planting campaign on March 20; Kazinform refers to Itar-Tass.

Eleusizov said that Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev should be the first to plant a tree. "I have written a letter to the president, asking him to support the campaign and to be the first to plant a tree," the candidate told Itar-Tass on Friday.

It is possible to plant many trees within one day, he said. "A serviceman in Pakistan planted 30,000 trees in 36 hours, and his record was added to the Guinness Book of Records," he said.

Eleusizov does not plan to assign any funds for his campaign. He hopes that every citizen will buy two or three trees for planting.

"It would be better to plant coniferous trees but they are expensive," he said, admitting that he would be planting "the cheapest trees" - poplars and elms. Even seedlings planted in pots will count, because frosts persists in central and northern areas of Kazakhstan; Kazinform cites Itar-Tass.