- Title: Guinea-Bissau presidential candidate Embalo claims victory, opponent says wait
- Date: 30th December 2019
- Summary: BISSAU, GUINEA-BISSAU (DECEMBER 29, 2019) (REUTERS) ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE DOMINGOS SIMOES PEREIRA WALKING TOWARDS BOOTH PEREIRA CASTING HIS VOTE
- Embargoed: 13th January 2020 15:12
- Keywords: Domingos Simoes Pereira Guinea-Bissau presidential candidate Umaro Cissoko Embalo election voting win
- Location: BISSAU, GUINEA BISSAU / INTERNET
- City: BISSAU, GUINEA BISSAU / INTERNET
- Country: Guinea-Bissau
- Topics: Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA005BC61MX3
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Former army general and ex-Prime Minister Umaro Cissoko Embalo said on Monday (December 30) he was on course to win Guinea Bissau's presidential election and his opponent urged the nation to await official results.
An Embalo victory over Domingos Simoes Pereira, another former prime minister and the candidate of the ruling PAIGC party, would be a turnaround from November's first round, in which Pereira comfortably won the most votes.
The two competed in Sunday's (December 29) run-off to replace incumbent President Jose Mario Vaz, who was eliminated in the first round.
Official results are not expected until Wednesday (January 1) and the electoral commission has not commented on the vote count.
Embalo campaign spokesman Djibril Balde said the victory claim was based on campaign tallies of preliminary results its observers had compiled in each region.
Surrounded by a group of cheering supporters outside his campaign headquarters, Embalo told Reuters that Pereira had earlier called to congratulate him on his win.
In a tweet, Pereira said: "A lot of fake news is circulating, but only official numbers can be respected".
He did not say specify what he considered fake news and campaign officials were not available for comment.
Embalo, 47, came second in last month's first round vote with 28% versus 40% for Pereira. Ahead of Sunday's run-off, Embalo won the backing of incumbent President Jose Mario Vaz, who received 12%.
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