Governing party candidate wins Kyrgyz presidential vote

MOSCOW (AP) — Preliminary results from the presidential election in Kyrgyzstan show the governing party’s candidate winning.

The RIA-Novosti and Interfax news agencies reported that Kyrgyzstan’s elections commission said Sunday that Sooronbai Jeenbekov had received about 55 percent of the vote, based on a count of ballots from 95 percent of polling stations

In second place was Omurbek Babanov, one of the former Soviet central Asian republic’s richest people. Babanov is the candidate of a party that allies nationalist and business-friendly positions.

Both served as prime ministers under President Almazbek Atambayev. The Kyrgyzstan Constitution allows the president to serve only one six-year term.

A total of 11 candidates were on the ballot.