Congo Re-elect Nguesso As President After 36-Year Term

The Republic of Congo’s veteran president, Denis Sassou Nguesso, has been re-elected with 88.57 percent of the vote, according to provisional results released Tuesday.

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Sassou Nguesso, 77, has been in power for an accumulated 36 years, first taking the helm of the central African state in 1979.

His landslide first-round victory, announced by the interior minister citing figures from the electoral commission, had been widely expected.

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Sunday’s ballot had been boycotted by the main opposition and overshadowed by the death from Covid of Sassou Nguesso’s only major rival, Guy-Brice Parfait Kolelas, 61, who reaped 7.84 percent of the vote.

Turnout was put at 67.55 percent.

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One of the world’s longest-serving rulers, Sassou Nguesso has long been accused by critics of authoritarian rule and turning a blind eye to corruption, poverty and inequality despite the country’s oil wealth.

AFP

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