(Bishkek, KGZ) - Kyrgyzstan's moderate prime minister Monday won the presidency of the violence-scarred nation with a decisive election victory, but his rivals refused to recognise the result amid claims of fraud.
Almazbek Atambayev, a close ally of outgoing President Roza Otunbayeva who took power after a 2010 uprising ousted the regime of Kurmanbek Bakiyev, won 63 percent of the vote in Sunday's polls, the central election commission said.
The international observer mission led by the OSCE said there were shortcomings with the vote count, even though it was cautiously optimistic for the future of the only parliamentary democracy in ex-Soviet Central Asia.
Nevertheless, US President Barack Obama said the ballot was "democratic" and "courageous", and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon commended the Kyrgyz for conducting the vote "in a peaceful manner."
"I congratulate the people and government of Kyrgyzstan for yesterday's democratic and peaceful presidential election," Obama said in a statement.
"In casting their ballots, the Kyrgyz people have taken an important and courageous step on the path of democracy and demonstrated their commitment to an orderly and open transition of power."
An unrest-free election is in itself a major achievement for Kyrgyzstan which in the two decades since the fall of the Soviet Union has not once seen a peaceful transition of presidential power.
The crushing victory over his two nationalist rivals -- who garnered less than 15 percent apiece -- gave Atambayev the presidency without the need for a potentially tricky second round.
"According to the initial results, Almazbek Atambayev has been elected the president of Kyrgyzstan," central election commission chief Tuigunaly Abdraimov told reporters. "There will be no second round."
Atambayev, 55, now faces the task of healing the wounds of a divided nation that within the space of a year in 2010 endured the bloody revolution that ousted Bakiyev and horrific intercommunal violence that killed some 470.
The April 2010 uprising was the second for independent Kyrgyzstan after the 2005 Tulip Revolution that ousted post-Soviet leader Askar Akayev and installed Bakiyev in his place.
"People said 'No' to a destabilisation of society. Sunday's events will be the first step to genuine unity in the country," Atambayev said after his victory was announced.
"I will work so that the problem of a split among the Kyrgyz people and the danger of the break-up of the state are history," he added. "From now on, there will be no revolutions."
The future of the nation of 5.3 million is closely watched by the West, which uses Kyrgyzstan as a hub for transit operations for the campaign in Afghanistan. It is the only country in the world to house both US and Russian bases.
Although seen as a pro-Western figure, Atambayev warned the United States that it was time its Manas air base "was turned into a civilian air base."
Kyrgyzstan remains tense after the June 2010 ethnic violence in the south between the Kyrgyz majority and the Uzbek minority communities that followed the April revolution.
International observers led by the OSCE international observers said the elections were marred by "significant irregularities" in the vote count which extended to protocols being altered or completed by higher-level commissions.
They also found instances of ballot box stuffing, multiple voting and vote buying. "I would like to stress that we had hoped for a better election," said Corien Jonker, head of the mission of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights.
But the mission also noted that the election in a country notorious for its volatility had passed peacefully and said it was "cautiously optimistic" about the future of democracy in Kyrgyzstan.
Atambayev's two leading rivals out of 15 challengers -- the one-time parliament speaker Adakhan Madumarov and former boxer Kamchybek Tashiyev -- said they refused to recognise the results and warned of protests.
But Atambayev, who will formally take power from Otunbayeva in the next weeks once the results have been officially confirmed, struck a conciliatory note saying he was prepared to work with both his rivals in government.
Despite the flaws in the vote, the election was a stark contrast to the largely ceremonial polls held in the other ex-Soviet states of Central Asia which have been run by the same strongmen leaders for years on end.
According to the results based on 99.9 percent of the electoral precincts, Atambayev won 63.2 percent, Madumarov 14.8 percent and Tashiyev 14.3 percent.
