BISSAU, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- The presidential candidate of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC) Domingos Simoes Pereira on Wednesday called for national reconciliation and efforts to fight against ethnic and religious segregation.
He made the call after the National Election Commission (NEC) released provisional results of the first round of the presidential election earlier on Wednesday, which showed he took the lead by winning over 40 percent of the votes.
In a press conference, Pereira also congratulated all the other 11 presidential candidates, and particularly the people of Guinea-Bissau for their participation in the election.
The NEC announced earlier on Wednesday that a presidential election run-off is expected to take place on Dec. 29, as no single candidate had won more than 50 percent of the votes during the first round of election that took place on Sunday.
Former prime ministers Domingos Simoes Pereira and Umaro Sissoco Embalo, who received 40.13 percent and 27.65 percent of the votes respectively, will compete for the presidency during the run-off, according to the NEC.
The incumbent president and independent candidate Jose Mario Vaz only garnered 12.41 percent, or 68,933 votes, which placed him at the fourth place, the provisional results showed.
The failed candidate of the Assembly of the People United-Democratic Party of Guinea-Bissau (APU-PDGB) Nuno Gomes Na Biam, who gained 13.16 percent of the votes, also congratulated the two winners of the first round and declared to accept the results.
More than 200 observers from the African Union, the Community of Portuguese Language Countries and the Economic Community of West African States, as well as 422 others from the civil society, followed the process of the first round voting.
The head of the African Union observation mission Joaquim Rafael Branco said Monday that the first round of the presidential election was a "festival of transparency".
