PM Atambayev set to win presidential polls in Kyrgyzstan

The frontrunner in Sunday’s presidential polls in Kyrgyzstan, Prime Minister Almazbek Atambayev, 55, is set to win the election, gaining more than 63 percent of the vote, according to preliminary results made public by the Central Asian country’s main election body. Sixteen candidates were running in the presidential polls that saw a turnout of just above 60 percent. A candidate securing over 50 percent of the vote wins the election in the first round. With over half of the ballots counted, Kyrgyzstan’s Central Election Commission said Atambayev’s main challengers, Kamchibek Tashiyev and Adakhan Madumarov, were gaining nearly 15 percent each. Critics said the election was marred by fraud. The figures are expected to be updated by morning. Interim President Roza Otunbayeva, who took power after Kurmanbek Bakiyev was ousted as president amid large-scale popular protests in April 2010, did not run in the polls as in line with the new Kyrgyz constitution, the president is elected for one six-year term. She is to leave the presidential post on December 31.