BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan -- Kyrgyz voters have elected a populist new president and simultaneously chosen how they want to be governed in a referendum. In contrast to the violent scenes that followed rigged parliamentary polls last October, the voting on Sunday passed peacefully, with the favorite Sadyr Japarov cruising to a landslide victory.
The election may prove to be the easy part for Japarov, who now faces a host of economic problems as well as challenging relations with his country's two main partners -- Russia and China.
