There were some reports of irregularities, but the Central Electoral Commission said "no considerable breaches" had been registered.

Preliminary results are expected on Monday.

A woman votes in the Kazakhstan election

Non-government monitors at Sunday's election reported violations during the vote such as independent observers being barred from polling-stations, and forged voting slips.

For the first time since independence from Russia in 1991, 10 ten of the 77 seats are being fought on nationwide, political party lists.

After casting his vote, President Nursultan Nazarbayev said the new parliament would "bear enormous responsibility" for moving the country towards a liberal economy and democracy.

More than 52% of country's 8.4 million eligible voters had people had cast their ballots.

Zhanat Tungyshbayev, a 46-year-old construction worker, said it was his duty to vote to ensure the parliament will be "genuinely democratic".

Asked if he thought the outcome would be rigged, he said: "Maybe, but I don't know."

Click here for a list of the main contenders

Chance for democracy

The former Soviet republic has staged two parliamentary elections since it gained independence in 1991, but both were criticised by the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and other international organisations.

When the incumbent President Nazarbayev was reelected in a presidential poll in January, the OSCE refused to recognise the results.

The president, who enjoys wide-ranging powers, proposed some measures of electoral reform last year, ratified by parliament in April.

These include:

• Increasing the number of seats in the lower chamber by 10 to 77, and distributing these extra seats by proportional representation from party lists
• Inviting international observers to monitor the elections
• Abolishing the rule requiring a 50% turnout for the elections to be valid
• Reducing deposits for parliamentary candidates

The country's Central Election Commission has hailed the reform as "an essential step in Kazkhstan's transition to a multiparty democracy".

The parliament, however, still has little power.

The main contenders

The latest opinion polls predict the pro-presidential Fatherland Republican Party, the Communist Party, and the pro-government Civic Party are the only ones likely to gain more than 7% of the vote, required for election to the lower house of parliament.

The Fatherland Party

The pro-presidential party has around 200,000 members and is led by former Prime Minister Sergei Tereshchenko but the top candidate on its party list is parliamentary speaker, Marat Ospanov. The party shares the reform policy being pursued by President Nazarbayev, but is critical of the government. Mr Ospanov says the party demands the "immediate resignation" of the government and the "resolute re-orientation" of investment policy.

The Communist Party

Serikbolsyn Abdildin heads the Communist Party

Led by the former chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Serikbolsyn Abdildin, the Communist Party considers itself to be in opposition and calls for parliamentary methods of struggle.

The party's main demand "is to establish democracy in place of the existing political regime of power of one man in Kazakhstan".

The Civic Party of Kazakhstan

The Civic Party supports the government but has its own programme to revive the country through a planned economy and developing heavy industry. It is a party of industrialists and entrepreneurs who say they are of "a reformist persuasion".

Agrarian Party

Polls suggest that support for the pro-presidential Agrarian Party is also growing, and they might make it to the 7% threshold. It has formed a single election bloc with an alliance of women's organisations of Kazakhstan.

Alash Party

The leader of the nationalist Alash Party, Zhaksybay Bazilbayev, believes that all Muslims in the country should vote for his party. Its ideology is based on pan-Turkism and pan-Islamism.

Amantay Asylbek

The chairman of the Attan anti-nuclear movement, Amantay Asylbek, has registered as a candidate for an Almaty district. He was denied registration as a presidential candidate in the January 1999 elections because he took part in an unauthorised rally in support of miners in the southern Kazakh town of Zhanatas. He has pledged to fight openly against the mafia and corruption.