Kazakh veteran leader calls snap presidential poll on April 26

ALMATY - Kazakhstan's president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, on Wednesday called an early presidential election in the oil-producing Central Asian state on April 26.

The election is widely seen as intended to give him another five years at the helm of Central Asia's largest economy though he said in a televised address that he would decide later whether to run.

Nazarbayev's ruling Nur Otan party and parliament appealed to the veteran leader last week to secure a new five-year term early to consolidate the nation as it starts to experience economic difficulties.