REPUBLIC OF CONGO – The Republic of Congo began voting on Sunday’s presidential election, with incumbent Denis Sassou Nguesso, 82, projected to win.

Polls opened at 6 am (0500GMT) and will remain open until 6 pm (1700GMT). More than 2.6 million registered voters aged 18 and above are eligible to cast their ballots.

Sassou Nguesso first took power in 1979, lost the 1992 election and went into exile in France before returning in 1997 to seize power in an armed uprising that toppled former Prime Minister Pascal Lissouba.

He has since dominated politics, and is seeking a fifth straight term after victories in 2002, 2009, 2016 and 2021, when he won more than 88% of the vote, following 2015 constitutional changes that reset term limits and removed the presidential age cap.

He faces six challengers, including former lawmaker Mabio Mavoungou Zinga and veteran legislator Joseph Kignoumbi Kia Mboungou, while two major opposition candidates boycotted the vote because of alleged unfair practices.

Two prominent challengers from the disputed 2016 election, Jean-Marie Michel Mokoko and Andre Okombi Salissa, remain jailed on 20-year sentences for “endangering state security.”

A candidate with an absolute majority will be declared the winner of the elections, or in an unlikely event, a run-off will be called between the two top candidates.