Rahmon expected to remain Tajik president for another 7 years
DUSHANBE. Nov 6 (Interfax) - Incumbent Emomali Rahmon is expected to have another seven-year term as president of Tajikistan, where polling stations have closed after a presidential election.
There were no opposition leaders among the contenders, while Rahmon's five rivals are little known, and none of them is likely to have received more than 5% of the vote.
The country's 3,155 polling stations were open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Wednesday. There were also 58 expatriate stations in 25 countries, including those in 24 Russian cities from Moscow to Khabarovsk.
The turnout was above the 80% mark two hours before the closure of the stations, which means the returns will be considered valid, the Central Election Commission said.
"As of 6 p.m., votes had been cast by 3,380,068 voters or 80.3% of their total number," commission chief Abdumannon Dodoyev told a briefing.
The commission is due to announce its initial vote counts on Thursday morning. The definitive returns are to be announced within 10 days of the election day.
Several thousand observers - members of the parties represented by the candidates - monitored the voting.