Guinea-Bissau opposition candidate Dias claims victory in presidential poll

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BISSAU (Reuters) -Fernando Dias, widely seen as the top challenger in Guinea-Bissau’s presidential election, declared victory on Monday before the release of official results, saying he had won more than 50% of the vote and would avoid a second round.

His assertion risks escalating frictions in the coup-prone West African country after Sunday’s poll 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.

“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 alternance on the top of the state.”

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.

Dias is challenging President Umaro Sissoco Embalo, 53, an ex-army general who seeks 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, Idrissa Diallo, spokesperson for the national electoral commission, said on Sunday.

There was no immediate comment on Dias’ claim from the electoral commission or Embalo’s office.

(Reporting by Alberto Dabo; Writing by Ayen Deng Bior; Editing by Robbie Corey-Boulet)