Guinea’s junta leader, General Mamadi Doumbouya, has been provisionally declared the winner of the country’s presidential election, according to incomplete results released late Tuesday.
The vote marks Guinea’s first presidential election since the 2021 military coup that removed former president Alpha Condé and is widely viewed as an effort to legitimize Doumbouya’s continued rule.
Preliminary figures show Doumbouya securing 86.7 percent of the ballots counted so far. Announcing the results, Djenabou Touré of Guinea’s General Directorate of Elections said the outcome was reached after the centralization, verification, and compilation of provisional first-round results, in line with electoral law.
“Mr. Mamadi Doumbouya, having obtained an absolute majority of the valid votes cast, is provisionally declared elected in the presidential election,” Touré told reporters.
Doumbouya competed against eight other candidates in a race held amid a weakened opposition. More than 50 political parties have been dissolved, while several prominent opposition figures were either barred from contesting the election or remain in exile.
Yéro Baldé, a former education minister under Condé, placed second with 6.5 percent of the vote, according to provisional tallies.
Election authorities reported a voter turnout of 80.9 percent among Guinea’s 6.7 million registered voters.
The election was conducted under a new constitution approved by referendum in September. The revised charter lifts a previous ban on military leaders running for office and extends the presidential term from five to seven years.
Despite Guinea’s vast mineral wealth, including its position as the world’s largest exporter of bauxite, more than half of the country’s estimated 15 million people are facing severe poverty and food insecurity, according to the World Food Program.
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