Kazakhstan's Interior Minister Baurzhan Mukhamedjanov said on Thursday that radical forces were planning to fan armed disorder ahead of general elections next month, media reports said.

Mukhamedjanov said police information indicated radical forces are preparing to instigate mass disorder, the Kazakhstan Today news agency said.

When speaking to reporters in the capital, Astana, he said any such attempts would meet with "harsh" police action.

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, who has ruled the country for 16 years after it broke away from the former Soviet, is running for re-election. His main contender is the leader of the opposition For a Fair Kazakhstan alliance.

The campaign has been marred by the fatal shooting of a former minister at his home on Saturday.

On Thursday, Kazakhstan's Central Election Commission accused the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe of double standards and alleged bias in favor of the opposition in monitoring the election process.

The commission said it had prepared a bill that would abolish a legislative change introduced earlier this year banning protests between the end of the official election campaign and the announcement of the final results.

The bill needs to be approved by parliament and president before it becomes a law.

Source: Xinhua