Guinea-Bissau challenger, incumbent both claim victory in presidential vote

Fernando Dias, widely seen as the leading challenger in Guinea-Bissau's presidential election, and President Umaro Sissoco Embalo's camp both declared victory on Monday before the release of official results, each claiming over half the vote.

The duelling assertions risk escalating strife in the coup-prone West African country after Sunday's vote, in which the party that led the fight for independence from Portugal was excluded for the first time. That party, the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC), threw its support behind Dias.

If none of the presidential candidates wins more than 50% of the vote, a second round will take place.

"We have won the presidential race. We will not have (a) runoff," Dias said on Monday at his campaign headquarters in the capital Bissau. "My people were very tired and they need change at the top of the state."

However Oscar Barbosa, a spokesperson for Embalo's campaign, told a separate press conference that Embalo was the winner and that there would be no need for a runoff.

"We urge our opponents to refrain from announcing any results that could call into question the electoral process," he said.

Dias, 47, of the Party for Social Renewal, gained traction after obtaining the backing of former prime minister Domingos Simoes Pereira, the PAIGC leader who came second in a disputed 2019 presidential election.

Embalo, 53, is a former army general seeking to become his country's first sitting president in three decades to win re-election.

Analysts predicted a tight contest between Embalo and Dias.

More than 65% of voters turned out on Sunday, and provisional results are expected to be announced on Thursday, according to Idrissa Diallo, spokesperson for the national electoral commission.

There was no immediate comment from the electoral commission on the conflicting claims from Dias and Embalo.