No candidate won the simple majority in Guinea's presidential election, and a second round vote will be needed in the African country, according to provisional results released by the national electoral commission on Friday, Xinhua reported.
In Sunday's election, former prime minister Cellou Dalein Diallo won 39.72 percent of the ballots, followed by Alpha Conde, the opposition leader, with 20.67 percent. Sidya Toure, another former prime minister, was third on 15.6 percent, the independent electoral body announced in a statement.
As no candidate secured the simple majority, a second round voting will be held on July 18. If confirmed, the first two winners in the first round election, Diallo of the Union of Democratic Forces in Guinea (UFDG) and Conde of Rally of Guinean People (RPG), will compete for the presidency.
The presidential polling is the first democratic one that will end a dictatorial regime in the West African country since its independence in 1958.
From 1958 to 1984, the country was led by Ahmed Sekou Toure under a one-party regime. Lansana Conte came to power in a military coup in April 1984 after Toure died a month earlier. He was elected president in 1993 and won re-elections in 1998 and 2003. But the three elections during Conte's rule were accused of dictatorship.
Guinea won independence from France in 1958. With an area of 245,857 square km and a population of 10.1 million people, the country is known for its rich mineral deposits, especially bauxite which accounts for half of the world's total reserves.