of the metal is plain, the amalgam may be applied to it directly.

When no such preparation is

applied, the surface to be gilded is simply bitten and cleaned with nitric acid. A deposit of
mercury is obtained on a metallic surface by means of quicksilver water, a solution of
mercury(II) nitrate, the nitric acid attacking the metal to which it is applied, and thus leaving
a film of free metallic mercury.

In 1984, Nazarbayev became the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan (Chairman of the Council of
Ministers), under Dinmukhamed Kunayev, the First Secretary of the Communist Party of
Kazakhstan.[18] At the sixteenth session of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan in January
1986, Nazarbayev criticized Askar Kunayev, head of the Academy of Sciences, for not
reforming his department. Dinmukhamed Kunayev, Nazarbayev's boss and Askar's brother,
felt deeply angered and betrayed. Kunayev went to Moscow and demanded Nazarbayev's
dismissal while Nazarbayev's supporters campaigned for Kunayev's dismissal and
Nazarbayev's promotion.[citation needed]

An April 1995 referendum extended Nazarbayev's term until 2000. He was re-elected in
January 1999 and again in December 2005. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe criticised the last presidential election as falling short of international democratic
standards.[25] On 18 May 2007, the Parliament of Kazakhstan approved a constitutional
amendment which allowed the incumbent president—himself—to run for an unlimited
number of five-year terms. This amendment applied specifically and only to Nazarbayev: the
original constitution's prescribed maximum of two five-year terms will still apply to all future
presidents of Kazakhstan.[26]

On 4 December 2005, new presidential elections were held and President Nazarbayev won by
an overwhelming majority of 91.15% (from a total of 6,871,571 eligible participating voters).
Nazarbayev was sworn in for another seven-year term on 11 January 2006.[30] In 2009,
former UK Cabinet Minister Jonathan Aitken released a biography of the Kazakh leader
entitled Nazarbayev and the Making of Kazakhstan. The book takes a generally pro-
Nazarbayev stance, asserting in the introduction that he is mostly responsible for the success
of modern Kazakhstan.[31]

The gilding of decorative ceramics has been undertaken for centuries, with the permanence
and brightness of gold appealing to designers. Both porcelain and earthenware are commonly
decorated with gold, and in the late 1970s it was reported that 5 tonnes of gold were used
annually for the decoration of these products.[4] Some wall tiles also have gold
decoration.[5][6] Application techniques include spraying, brushing, banding machines, and
direct or indirect screen-printing.[7] After application the decorated ware is fired in a kiln to
fuse the gold to the glaze and hence ensure its permanence. The most important factors
affecting coating quality are the composition of applied gold, the state of the surface before
application, the thickness of the layer and the firing conditions.[8]

 Burnish Gold or Best Gold is applied to the ware as a suspension of gold powder in
essential oils mixed with lead borosilicate or a bismuth-based flux. This type of gold
decoration is dull as taken from the kiln and requires burnishing, usually with agate, to bring
out the colour. As the name suggests it is considered the highest quality of gold decoration.
One solvent-free burnish gold composition was reported to consist of 10 to 40% gold powder,
2 to 20% polyvinylpyrrolidone, 3 to 30% an aqueous acrylate resin and 5 to 50% water.[12]