Guinea's military leader Mamadi Doumbouya was declared winner of the presidential election held over the weekend, provisional results showed Tuesday.

Doumbouya, who seized power in a coup in 2021, won 86.72% of the vote, according to the General Directorate of Elections.

He was widely expected to win election.

Major opposition figures were either barred or were in exile, leaving a fragmented field with no strong challengers. Opposition leaders had called for a boycott of the vote.

Election widely seen as effort to legitimize Doumbouya's stay in power

Ahead of Sunday's vote, analysts said a weakened opposition all but ensured Doumbouya's victory, with the election widely seen as an effort to legitimize his hold on power.

The election commission said turnout was 80.95%, a figure disputed by opposition groups.

Yero Balde, a former government minister, came a distant second with 6.51% of the vote.

Opposition decry 'electoral charade'

Doumbouya came to power in the mineral-rich but impoverished west African nation in a 2021 coup that ousted former President Alpha Conde.

After initially ruling out a run for office and promising a return to civilian rule by the end of 2024, Doumbouya reversed course after a new constitution in September lifted the ban on military officers seeking office and extended presidential terms to seven years.

Civil liberties advocates have raised concerns over a crackdown on protesters and a deterioration in press freedom under Doumbouya's rule.

A citizen's collective, the National Front for the Defense of the Constitution, said many voters stayed away from the "electoral charade."

Africa grapples with a spate of coups

The vote was held in the backdrop of a spate of coups or coup attempts in Africa, with military officers having taken on popular discontent with deteriorating security, underwhelming economies or disputed elections to seize power.

Since November, Guinea-Bissau and Benin have also gone through coups.

Edited by: Roshni Majumdar