Guinea: President Conde re-elected

Incumbent Guinea president Alpha Conde was re-elected for a second term with 57.85 percent of the vote, according to official results released by the country's official electoral commission on Saturday night.

His opponent, Cellou Diallo, the Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea (UFDG) candidate, received 31.44 percent of the vote, the country’s Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) said six days after polling ended.

"Alpha Conde had obtained an absolute majority of votes cast, with a percentage of 57.85 percent," said Bakary Fofana, the president of the CENI.

The electoral commission said 59.7 percent of 6.7 million registered voters had cast ballots.

The winner candidate Conde obtained around 2.3 million votes, his main rival Diallo received around 1.2 million votes while the rest of the votes were divided among six other candidates.

In order to avoid turmoil after the publication of the results by the CENI, the governor of Conakry, Soriba Sorel Camara, banned all demonstrations of joy in the streets of the capital.

Before the election, clashes had opposed candidates' supporters, resulting in several deaths.

Three weeks ago, seven opposition candidates called for delaying the Oct. 11 presidential polls in light of “electoral irregularities”.

The presidential election was held on Oct. 11 with eight candidates running.

Conde, 77, came to power in the country's first democratic election in 2010 following a military coup led by Moussa Dadis Camara, a former head of Guinea’s military junta.

The 2008 military coup that brought Camara to power came after the death of Lansana Conte, who had ruled the country from 1984 to 2008.

Camara, in exile since 2009, was blocked from registering as a candidate.