The outgoing president of the Congo-Brazzaville, Denis Sassou-Nguesso, was re-elected with 88.57% of the vote for a period of five years, according to the official preliminary results of the election commission announced by the interior minister.
Interior Minister Raymond Mboulou read the results district by district live on public television on Tuesday afternoon. Two-hour statement on the results, which was an accumulation of triumphs for the outgoing president, to whom the figures in the election commission offer a ground war victory.
77 years old, with 37 of them cumulating at the head of the country, he wins everywhere. At the national level, the Electoral Commission gives him 88.57% of the vote, which is more than 700,000 extra votes compared to 2016, when he achieved 60.19%.
Among the six other candidates in the race, Guy-Brice Parfait Kolelas is credited with the most votes with 7.84%. Former Minister Mathias Dzon achieves 1.90% and the other candidates are below 1%. The official share is 67.55%.
Opponents have already announced they will appeal, starting with relatives of Guy-Brice Parfait Kolélas, who died Sunday night from coronavirus just after his arrival on French soil.
They condemn massive irregularities and must now appeal to the Constitutional Court. Mathias Dzon, for his part, spoke of a “catastrophic choice”.
