Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev swept into office yesterday for a second term with a landslide victory, sparking outrage from the opposition and threatening to deepen an already tense political standoff.
Mr Bakiyev, who was widely expected to win re-election in the strategically important ex-Soviet Central Asian country, won 87.7 per cent of the 51 per cent of ballots counted so far, the election comission said. But the enormity of his victory in a race that had been tightly contested by main opposition candidate Almazbek Atambayev angered government critics, who allege massive voter fraud.
"90 per cent is fantastical. It is an absolutely clear indicator this is a fraud on the state level," said opposition MP and presidential campaign manager Bakyt Beshimov.
Mr Atambayev, who as the candidate of the United People's Movement opposition coalition had been seen as Mr Bakiyev's most serious challenger, earlier called the vote "illegitimate" and promised street protests. The government rebutted the allegations and said the election results would stand, setting the scene for a possible confrontation with the deeply disaffected anti-Bakiyev camp.
"These regular presidential elections took place in an orderly fashion. They occured in an environment of calmness and amicability from the side of each candidate," election commission spokesman Damir Lisovsky told reporters.
"Carrying out a re-run of the elections, as demanded by the opposition, is not possible."
About 2,000 opposition supporters gathered on Thursday night at Mr Atambayev's campaign headquarters on the outskirts of the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek for a concert that had been expected to turn into a protest march. Framed by floodlights, opposition supporters waved white flags and shouted "down with Bakiyev" - but their planned march to the election commission headquarters largely fizzled out.
The city was calm as the results were announced.
Earlier, the government had called in more than 5,000 troops to Bishkek for the election, and Mr Bakiyev had issued a stern warning against attempts to organise illegal protests.
Kyrgyzstan has a history of political violence, and many voters said this week that they feared a contested election result could bring a return to instability and fighting.
Mr Bakiyev recently scored political points when he secured hundreds of millions of dollars in rent for a US airbase used to support international military operations in Afghanistan.
After vowing in February to close the Manas airbase, Mr Bakiyev relented when Washington agreed to more than triple the rent it had been paying for the Manas airbase, located outside Bishkek.
Nevertheless, Mr Bakiyev remains deeply unpopular and has struggled to improve living conditions in a country where, according to the World Bank, the average monthly income is just US$162 dollars (€114).