MINSK, Belarus -- A tough-talking, rabble-rousing populist appeared headed for an unexpectedly easy victory Friday in Belarus' first presidential elections.Alexander Lukashenko, 39, who has vowed to crack down on corruption, arrest the government and resurrect the Soviet Union, emerged the clear leader with 45.1 percent of the vote, more than twice that of his nearest rival, according to election officials.Like Russian ultranationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the controversial Lukashenko appears to have ridden to the threshold of power on a wave of popular discontent with life after the Soviet Union."He'll return us to the way things were," said Dmitry Pokhlepko, a Minsk construction worker.Because Lukashenko fell short of 50 percent, however, he will face a run-off election in July against Prime Minister Vyacheslav Kebich, who was placed a distant second with 17.4 percent. Lukashenko will contest the run-off.Lukashenko's wide lead in the first round made a victory seem likely over the prime minister, whom Lukashenko has vowed to put behind bars with his first decree.The vote was a defeat for the two nationalist candidates, who had promised an independent market-oriented Belarus. Zenon Poznyak of the Belarus National Front won only 12.9 percent and Stanislav Shushkevich, the former parliament chairman, finished fourth with 9.9 percent of the vote. Two conservative candidates brought up the rear, the Agrarian Party's Alexander Dubko with 6 percent and Communist leader Vasily Novikov with 4.6 percent.The unusually high turnout of 78.7 percent of Belarus' 7.3 million voters and the high vote-count for Lukashenko, especially in rural areas, was a sign of public disapproval of the Kebich government, which is seen as corrupt and intent only on conserving its power."Lukashenko says he'll stop corruption," said Maria Dubko, a farmer in Slutsk, 100 kilometers south of Minsk. "He says he'll find out who's been building all those cottages."Others, like Minsk cab driver Yury Fedko, gave Lukashenko their votes because "he's a new player on the political scene."But some observers voiced concern at what a Lukashenko presidency might mean for Belarus.Although he has repeatedly denounced the breakup of the Soviet Union and called for a reunification of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, Lukashenko has also demanded that Belarus' armed forces be given "a chance to defend their fatherland."He has not said whether he would continue to turn over Belarus' arsenal of intercontinental nuclear missiles to Russia, as stipulated in agreements signed by Shushkevich in 1991.Lukashenko has promised a job and a home for everyone, but his economic plans are unclear, except that he opposes commercial banks and privatization."This is someone who could promise anything to anybody," said a diplomat based in Minsk, "His only goal is power."Roman Yakovletsky, a political observer for the liberal Belorusskaya Delovaya Gazeta, was more blunt, saying: "God forbid that Lukashenko should become president."Moscow politicians welcome Lukashenko's promise of closer ties to Russia, but also question the stability of a Lukashenko-ruled Belarus."He's a little too extremist," Konstatin Zatulin, head of parliament's committee for CIS affairs, said of Lukashenko last week.A former collective farm boss, from Mogilyov, 200 kilometers west of Minsk, Lukashenko came to prominence as head of the Belarussian parliament's anti-corruption commission. His charges of abuse of power led to the dismissal of Shushkevich as parliament chairman in February this year. Recognizing Lukashenko's growing influence, the Kebich government made barely concealed efforts to slow down Lukashenko's campaign, turning off electricity in halls were he was speaking and accusing him of violating campaign rules.Lukashenko added to the controversy a week before elections when he claimed he was the victim of an assassination attempt, an allegation authorities immediately denied.But true to his populist style, Lukashenko gave a riveting performance in a nationally televised broadcast Monday night that apparently swayed a majority of voters to his side.