Burkina Faso celebrates newly elected president


              Newly elected president of Burkina Faso, Roch Marc Christian Kabore, waves at supporters after preliminary results showed him to be the winner of recent elections, supporters gather outside Kabore’s campaign headquarters in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2015. Roch Marc Christian Kabore was elected Burkina Faso’s new president, according to preliminary results released by the electoral commission early Tuesday, in an election that will replace a transitional government put in place after the West African nation's longtime leader was toppled in a popular uprising last year. (AP Photo/Theo Renaut)
Newly elected president of Burkina Faso, Roch Marc Christian Kabore, waves at supporters after preliminary results showed him to be the winner of recent elections, supporters gather outside Kabore’s campaign headquarters in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2015. Roch Marc Christian Kabore was elected Burkina Faso’s new president, according to preliminary results released by the electoral commission early Tuesday, in an election that will replace a transitional government put in place after the West African nation's longtime leader was toppled in a popular uprising last year. (AP Photo/Theo Renaut)

OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (AP) - Hundreds of supporters of Burkina Faso's newly elected president started chanting "Presi, Presi," as preliminary results announced early Tuesday handed Roch March Christian Kabore an outright win.

The electoral commission said 60 percent of the 5.5 million registered voters participated in Sunday's election to replace a transitional government established after a popular uprising ousted President Blaise Compaore last year. Compaore had been in power for 27 years.

Kabore, a former prime minister, avoided a runoff with 53 percent of the vote. He said the nation owes its new path toward reconciliation to those killed during the uprising, and to those who died resisting a failed week-long military coup in September.

Candidates have seven days to contest the results before the constitutional court finalizes them.

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