[1] On 5 December 1995, Gabbasov was then elected as one of the first Senators for West Kazakhstan Region where he was member of the Committee on International Affairs, Defense and Security.
[4] On 22 October 1998, while serving as a Senator, Gabbasov launched his bid for presidency for the People's Union of Kazakhstan Unity.
Although Gabbasov had no rallies and only gave a limited amount of press interviews, he maintained a strong support mostly from rural areas.
[7][8] Gabbasov 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.
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.