Incumbent Kyrgyz president holds big lead in early vote tallies

With 25% of the votes counted, incumbent President Kurmanbek Bakiyev has a vast lead in Kyrgyzstan`s presidential elections, election officials said on Friday, according to RIA Novosti.

The country`s Central Election Commission reported that Bakiyev had 89.3% of votes tallied, against 5.8% for his main opponent, Almazbek Atambayev.

Atambayev withdrew his candidacy on Thursday claiming fraud.

The four other candidates in the presidential elections received 1.6% or less of the overall ballots.

Turnout in Thursday`s election was at least 79.3%, although a final figure had not been announced. The vote was declared valid on Thursday afternoon when turnout passed the 50% threshold.