Kazakh leader to extend long rule, promises stability

Kazakhstan's President and presidential candidate Nursultan Nazarbayev waves to audience during an election campaign rally at a stadium in Almaty April 18, 2015. REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov

ALMATY (Reuters) - President Nursultan Nazarbayev will extend his nearly 26-year rule of Kazakhstan in an election on Sunday which investors hope will maintain stability in the Central Asian state despite criticism of his rights record.

The 74-year-old former steelworker has held power since 1989 when the oil-producing nation of 17 million stretching from the border with China to the Caspian Sea was part of the Soviet Union, and has never faced a genuine challenge at the polls.