Congo's Sassou Nguesso Wins Election with 94.82% of Vote

President Denis Sassou Nguesso of the Republic of the Congo secured a landslide victory in the country's presidential election held on Sunday, claiming nearly 95 percent of the vote and extending his decades-long rule for another five years.

Provisional results announced late Tuesday by Interior Minister Raymond Zephirin Mboulou on state television showed Sassou Nguesso receiving 94.82 percent of the votes cast nationwide. The 82-year-old incumbent, running for the Congolese Party of Labor, far outpaced his six challengers, with the top opponent, retired customs inspector and former parliamentarian Mabio Mavoungou Zinga of the Alliance party, receiving 1.48 percent. Other candidates, including independents Uphrem Dave Mafoula, Destin Gavet, and Joseph Kignoumbi Kia Mboungou, each garnered less than 1 percent. Mboulou reported a turnout of 84.65 percent, with 2,681,587 voters participating out of 3,167,909 registered, including 2,644,013 valid ballots and 37,574 invalid ones. The results await validation by the Constitutional Court, after which Sassou Nguesso is expected to be sworn in for his fifth term.

The election unfolded amid heightened security measures in the oil-rich...