Election commission source: Shevchuk wins Transdnestr presidency

The ex-speaker of the Transdnestr parliament, Yevgeny Shevchuk, will become the breakaway republic's second president after garnering 73.88 percent of the vote in Sunday's runoff election, a source in Transdnestr's Central Election Commission told RIA Novosti, citing preliminary results. His opponent, Supreme Council Chairman Anatoly Kaminsky, received 19.67 percent of the vote. Another 4.45 percent of those casting ballots voted against both candidates. The winner of the election will serve as Transdnestr's president for the next five years. The Central Election Commission says it will announce official, preliminary results of the vote count at 10:00 a.m. local time on Monday. The final results will be available in three days, the commission said. Shevchuk and Kaminsky faced off in the runoff after taking 38.55 percent and 26.3 percent of the vote respectively in the first round on December 11. Outgoing president Igor Smirnov garnered 24.66 percent of the vote in the first round. Election officials rejected his appeal to declare the vote invalid, saying there were no grounds to do so. The Russian-speaking region gained de facto independence from Moldova in 1992. A joint peacekeeping force of the Russian, Moldovan and Transdnestr contingents has been deployed in the area. Transdnestr is seeking full independence, but Moldova says it is only prepared to allow autonomy.