KYRGYZSTAN: Kyrgyzstan's acting President Kurmanbek Bakiyev won yesterday's presidential elections by a landslide, a broadcast from the central election commission said.
"We can say now Kurmanbek Bakiyev has won by a landslide. We only don't know the precise percentage of the votes he received," said a Kyrgyz television presenter anchoring a press briefing broadcast live from the central election commission.
If the numbers are confirmed, he will lead the impoverished central Asian state whose post-Soviet leadership under Askar Akayev was ousted in a March uprising against a flawed parliamentary poll.
The West has repeatedly said free and fair polls would add legitimacy to the country's new leadership and set a good example of democracy for authoritarian regional neighbours.
Official results are due after 8am (0200 GMT) today, but an exit poll conducted by three Kyrgyz pollsters had earlier put Bakiyev well ahead of five other hopefuls, with a national average of well above 80 per cent of all ballots cast.
"Kurmanbek Bakiyev has surely won by a landslide in the capital Bishkek," central election commission head Turgunaaly Abdraimov told the live broadcast. "But let's not be in a hurry and wait for the final result [in the whole of the country]."
Staff members at Bakiyev's election campaign headquarters was euphoric. "Turnout was a high 73 per cent today. Of these voters, a minimum of 75 per cent chose Bakiyev," Yuruslan Doichubekov, Bakiyev's election campaign chief, said.
"Bakiyev's win means that there will be no more corruption in Kyrgyzstan, and every conscientious person will be guaranteed a job or a business of his own."
Casting his ballot yesterday, Bakiyev pledged to the West to hold honest polls and boost stability in the volatile state.
OSCE election monitors will deliver their verdict today.
The elections were called to find a successor to Akayev, who ruled the mountainous ex-Soviet nation for nearly 15 years but fled to Russia on March 24th after violent protests.
Kyrgyzstan, which borders China, has been volatile since the March coup, and Bakiyev's cabinet acknowledged last month it was not in full control after a crowd seized and briefly held the government headquarters.
The US and Russia have military air bases in Kyrgyzstan and have both emphasised a need for stability.