President confident as country goes to polls

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev was set to renew his 26-year grip on power on Sunday, offering the multiethnic Central Asian state economic and social stability in return for what rights groups described as systematic suppression of opposition.

Nazarbayev, 74, officially titled "Leader of the Nation", called presidential elections more than a year early in a move that could quash any speculation about a successor. He faces no real challenge from the other contenders, a low-profile Communist Party functionary and a loyal ex-regional governor.

Upbeat and smiling, the former steelworker appeared confident of his landslide win as he voted in his futuristic capital Astana.