The leader of Kazakhstan has apologised after winning the presidential election with 97 per cent of the vote saying it would have been 'undemocratic ' for him to make his victory more modest . Nursultan Nazarbayev , a 74-year-old former steel worker who has ruled the oil-producing nation since 1989 , has won another five year term . Kazakh television showed a triumphant Nazarbayev walking on a red carpet , smiling and shaking hands and greeting thousands of jubilant supporters at a forum in the capital Astana . Nursultan Nazarbayev , who has been re-elected as president of Kazakhstan after winning 97 per cent of the vote . But international monitors have voiced their concern about the poll saying there was not a genuine choice of other candidates with most of his vocal opponents either being jailed or fled abroad . However , at a news conference , Nazarbayev said : ' I apologise that for super-democratic states such figures are unacceptable . But I could do nothing . 'If I had interfered , I would have looked undemocratic , right ? ' The election was called more than a year before Nazarbayev 's term was due to end , averting the risk that another year of economic pain could develop into a more serious challenge to his leadership . It also puts the question of a possible successor , an important issue for investors , off the table for now . Kazakhstan has been criticised by the West and human rights bodies for crackdowns on dissent . No election held there has yet been given a clean bill of health by monitors . However , Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping promptly congratulated Nazarbayev on his re-election . Nazarbayev told a news conference after his victory that if he had interfered in the vote , it would have been undemocratic . Meanwhile Nazarbayev has promoted market reforms in the country and attracted $ 200 billion in foreign direct investment , turning his nation of 17 million into the second-largest economy in the former Soviet Union and number two post-Soviet oil producer after Russia . The multi-ethnic , mainly Muslim country is stable in a region troubled by ethnic violence from Kyrgyzstan to Afghanistan . Nazarbayev has promoted ' a multi-vector policy ' , building good ties with neighbouring Russia and China as well as the United States and the European Union . But the economy has been hurt in the past year by the decline in global energy prices and by economic difficulty in neighbouring Russia , hit by Western sanctions over Ukraine . Kazakh economic growth is forecast to slow to 1.5 percent this year from a 4.3 percent rise in 2014 . Gross domestic product may actually shrink if oil prices drop to below $ 50 per barrel , Kazakh officials have said .
Nursultan Nazarbayev has been re-elected as the president of Kazakhstan . 74-year-old was elected with 97 % of the vote , winning a five-year term . International monitors have voiced their concern about the result . Comment: