Guinea’s junta chief Mamady Doumbouya has been elected president with an overwhelming majority, according to provisional results released by the country’s election commission. Doumbouya had vowed not to seek office after seizing power four years ago.
Doumbouya, 41, secured just under 87 percent of the vote in the first round, comfortably above the threshold required to avoid a run-off, the General Directorate of Elections said on Tuesday.
Turnout was put at almost 81 percent, a figure that suggests strong participation despite calls from parts of the opposition to stay away from the polls.
The general faced eight rivals in the weekend vote, but Guinea’s most prominent opposition leaders were barred from standing under new constitutional rules and had urged supporters to boycott what they described as a foregone conclusion.
Early results showed Doumbouya winning decisively across much of the country. In some districts of the capital, Conakry, he took more than 80 percent of the vote, according to partial tallies read out by election chief Djenabou Touré on state broadcaster RTG.
However, the scale of the victory was swiftly challenged by critics. The National Front for the Defence of the Constitution, a citizens’ movement campaigning for a return to civilian rule, said a “huge majority of Guineans chose to boycott the electoral charade”.
Doumbouya came to power in September 2021 after leading a coup that ousted Alpha Condé, Guinea’s first freely elected president.
At the time, he promised a swift transition back to civilian rule and said he would not run for office himself.
Since the coup, the junta has tightened its grip on power. Protests have been banned, civil liberties curtailed and a number of opponents arrested, prosecuted or pushed into exile.