LIBREVILLE, April 13 (Xinhua) -- Gabon's transitional leader Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema has been elected president following Saturday's vote, the Interior Ministry announced on Sunday.

Nguema secured 90.35 percent of the total votes cast in the election, Interior Minister Hermann Immongault said.

Nguema has served as Gabon's transitional president since leading the 2023 coup that ousted former President Ali Bongo Ondimba.

His main challenger, Alain-Claude Bilie By Nze, former prime minister under the Ondimba administration, came in second with about 3.02 percent of the vote, according to the minister.

A total of 920,200 voters were registered, including more than 28,000 abroad. The voter turnout stood at 70.4 percent, said the minister.

Saturday's vote marked Gabon's first presidential election since the coup, signaling the final stage of the country's political transition and anticipated return to constitutional order.

Nguema resigned from his military post in accordance with Gabon's Electoral Code to contest the election.

Other candidates included 2023 presidential contenders Axel Stophene Ibinga Ibinga and Thierry Yvon Michel Ngoma, both businessmen. The sole female candidate, businesswoman Zenaba Gninga Chaning, campaigned on a platform promoting population growth and the revival of traditional practices.

Speaking on public television channel Gabon 24 late Saturday, Jean Eric Nziengui Mangala, spokesperson for the Interior Ministry, noted the high voter turnout and said the election had taken place in a "calm and peaceful atmosphere."

According to a report released late Saturday by the Citizen Observers Network, a Gabonese civil society platform that oversaw the vote, 74 percent of observed polling stations opened on time, while 99 percent were properly equipped with voting materials.

A total of 48 national and international observer missions, comprising about 2,450 observers, were accredited to oversee the electoral process, according to the ministry.

Gabon's new constitution, approved in a referendum in November 2024, sets the presidential term at seven years, renewable only once.

Under the new electoral provisions, the president is elected through a two-round system. A candidate must secure an absolute majority of valid votes in the first round to win outright. If no candidate meets that threshold, a runoff is held between the top two contenders. Enditem

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