Kyrgyzstan's Kurmanbek Bakiyev pledged on Monday to put together a government that would turn round his poor nation's fortunes after he won a runaway victory in presidential elections on Sunday.

"Forming a high quality government that will work for the good of the nation is a thing of paramount importance from the very first," Bakiyev, looking weary after a sleepless night, told Reuters.

He said he would stand by a pledge to make former security services chief Felix Kulov -- a powerful figure seen as a possible rival -- prime minister.

Bakiyev, 55, who has been acting president of the former Soviet Central Asian republic since the overthrow of veteran leader Askar Akayev in March, was officially declared the election winner by a huge margin of nearly 90 percent.

The international election watchdog, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), was poised to deliver a judgment on the election.

The West had repeatedly urged the country of 5 million people to hold free and fair polls to add legitimacy to its new leadership and set an example of democracy for authoritarian regional neighbors.

The elections were called to find a successor to Akayev, who ruled Kyrgyzstan for nearly 15 years but fled to Russia on March 24 after violent protests sparked by flawed parliamentary polls.

"Kurmanbek Saliyevich Bakiyev has won the first place with 88.9 percent of all the ballots cast," central election commission head Tuigunaaly Abdraimov told a news briefing, summing up the results.

Bakiyev, a prime minister under Akayev who later joined the opposition and played a key role in the protests, scored a resounding win over five other hopefuls.

His Soviet-style margin of victory may raise eyebrows in the West. International observers were due to give their verdict on the polls later on Monday.

But local democracy groups said it simply reflected widespread support for Akayev's overthrow.

"I don't feel a tremendous joy or euphoria. But I feel huge responsibility," Bakiyev told Reuters.

"A BAD MARK FOR OLD REGIME"

Akayev and other Central Asian leaders had repeatedly accused "foreign forces" of attempts to export "velvet revolutions" that propelled West-leaning liberals to power in ex-Soviet Ukraine and Georgia.

Kyrgyz liberals argue that it was abject poverty and deep-rooted corruption that pushed the nation to revolt.

"These are not the votes cast for a certain person, but a unanimous rejection of the past," Edil Baisalov, head of the Coalition for Democracy and Civil Society, said.

"This is not just what Bakiyev personally scored. This is a bad mark given to the old regime."

While Bakiyev's cabinet has yet to prove its democratic credentials, his victory may unsettle Central Asia's other four former Soviet states, where dissent is muzzled. None has held an election judged free or fair by the West.

Kyrgyzstan itself has been volatile since the March revolution. Bakiyev's cabinet acknowledged last month it was not in full control after a crowd briefly seized the government headquarters.

Russia and the United States seek stability in Kyrgyzstan. Both keep military bases there, the American complex providing support for U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

Bakiyev, a southerner, ran in tandem with Kulov, jailed under Akayev, who comes from the north. Analysts have said their union can boost stability in the nation divided by mountain ridges and regional interests.

PHOTO CAPTION

Kyrgyz Acting President Kurmanbek Bakiyev smiles during an interview in the capital Bishkek July 11, 2005. (REUTERS)