Vaz wins in Guinea-Bissau

Vaz of the African party for the Independence for Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde (PAIGC) won Sunday's second round of voting in the country's presidential election, taking 61.9 percent of the vote, electoral commission officials announced on Tuesday. Independent candidate Nuno Gomes Nabiam took 38.1 percent.

"I will not accept the result, because the figures collected by my campaign in four of eight regions are different from those announced by the National Electoral Commission," Nabiam told reporters in the capital, Bissau.

The results still have to be validated by Guinea-Bissau's supreme court, before they become official.

In the first round of voting, held in mid-April, Vaz had taken 40.9 percent of votes, while Nabiam came in second with 25.1 per cent - ahead of 11 other candidates.

The PAIGC also won the country's parliamentary elections, capturing 55 of 102 seats.

Return to democracy

Sunday's presidential runoff was meant to conclude a transitional period intended to return the chronically unstable country to democracy following a 2012 coup, in which the military scuppered a similar runoff by arresting the prime minister, who was leading in the presidential vote.

Observers from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) had said on Monday that Sunday's voting itself was both transparent and credible.

Since Guinea-Bissau gained independence in 1974, no president has finished his term in office.

pfd/dr (dpa, Reuters, AP)