Astana (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Presidential elections slated for 4 December are viewed as yet another step of the country's journey towards improved democracy and modernization. In all probability, the current president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, will be voted back into power.

In contrast with other countries in Central Asia, Kazakhstan has not had repressive presidents and sluggish economies. The Kazak economy is registering an annual growth rate of 9% and the country has become one of the largest exporters of gas and oil. A new oleoduct headed for China starts from Kazakhstan. Georgia, the Ukraine, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan are still stuck in post-Soviet torpor with corrupt elites, a gap between rich and poor as well as malfunctioning electoral systems which prompt strong popular protests each time a ballot is held.

For that matter, international standards of justice have not yet reached Kazakhstan either. Opponents and international observers claimed there was "cheating" in last year's parliamentary polls. And the fact that power has been firmly held in the grasp of the Nazerbayev family for a good 14 years – with wife and sons in strategic roles – does not escape anyone's attention.

Some experts predict popular protests around the upcoming ballot. Results will depend on two factors: on the one hand, all media is in the hands of the government which backs the party of the current president, well-known and respected; on the other, the Opposition is but poorly known. There are five presidential candidates for the upcoming poll.

Nazarbayev's main rival is Zharmakhan Tuyakbai. Analyst, Dosym Satpayev, said the Opposition "does not have Charismatic leaders. Secondly, they have very limited access to the media. And thirdly, the opposition has less money than the president, and he can count on the support of the state bureaucrats to back his campaign."

Kazakhstan is streets ahead other countries in central Asia even as regards greater freedom of worship and a decisive fight against Islamic fundamentalism. The major impact of John Paul II's visit to the country a few weeks after the attack on the Twin Towers in New York is unforgettable.

Murat Telibekov, director of the Committee of Muslims for Human Rights in Central Asia, said: "True freedom is impossible without taking freedom of worship into account: religion provides guidelines for values which form a nation's politics, culture and traditions."