By Incumbent President Denis Sassou Nguesso of the Republic of Congo has been re-elected into office.
Nguesso won 88.57 percent of the votes, according to provincial election results announced on Tuesday.
The 77-year-old, one of the world’s longest-serving rulers, has been in power for a total of 36 years since he assumed the leadership of the central African state in 1979.
His landslide victory had been widely expected following the events that occurred in the buildup to the elections which was boycotted by the main opposition and the death of his only major rival, 61-year-old Guy-Brice Parfait Kolelas due to COVID-19 complications. He, however, got 7.84 percent of the vote.
The election result was announced by the interior minister, Raymond Mboulou, citing figures from the electoral commission.
The victory placed Nguesso on course for another five-year term — marking his fourth election win since 2002.
The septuagenarian rose to power in 1979, serving three presidential terms until he was forced to introduce multi-party elections in 1991 but was defeated at the ballot box in 1992. He later returned to power in 1997 following a civil war.
