Hundreds arrested in Kazakhstan during protests against presidential election

Kassym-Jomart Tokayev expected to win vote to succeed veteran leader Nursultan Nazarbayev

Kazakh police detain demonstrators at anti-government protests in Almaty (AP)

Police detained hundreds of people in Kazakhstan amid protests against a presidential election set to confirm Kassym-Jomart Tokayev as the country’s new leader .

Demonstrators chanted ”Shame! Shame!” as they took to the streets of the capital Nur-Sultan and the city of Almaty to call for a boycott of the vote.

Three police officers were injured as they attempted to disperse the protesters, according to the interior ministry, which described them as “radical elements seeking to destabilise society”.

The snap election was called after the unexpected resignation of 78 year-old president Nursultan Nazarbayev, who had led the country since its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

Mr Nazarbayev, who holds the official title of Yelbasy, or national leader, hand-picked Mr Tokayev, the 66-year-old speaker of the upper house, to succeed him as president.

While a smooth transfer of power would be welcomed by neighbouring Russia and China, western observers have criticised previous elections as neither free nor fair.

Six other candidates stood during the brief campaign but Mr Tokayev was expected to win easily. Two exit polls published by local pollsters gave him around 70 per cent of the vote.

“Well, Nazarbayev is no longer on the ballot and I don’t know any of the other candidates,” said Natalya, a pensioner, after casting her vote on Sunday for Tokayev.

Several anti-government rallies have taken place since Mr Nazarbayev’s resignation, but dissent is largely stifled through control of traditional and electronic media and social networks.

Telegram, a popular mobile messaging app, was inaccessible in Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest city, and Facebook was also blocked for hours early in the day.

However one opposition candidate, Amirzhan Kossanov, said he had no complaints about possible campaign violations.

“The most important result, the peak of the election political process, is counting of the votes,” he said.

The national elections commission reported that about 77 per cent of the electorate turned out to vote. Previous presidential elections had reported turnouts of more than 90 per cent.

Mr Tokayev, who studied at an elite Soviet diplomatic school in Moscow and focused on China, is likely to continue Mr Nazarbayev’s policy of balancing between Russia, China and the West.

The central Asian country has sought to attract foreign investment while opening up markets for its oil and metals exports.

Additional reporting by Reuters and AP