BRAZZAVILLE: The Republic of Congo’s veteran president, Denis Sassou Nguesso, has been re-elected with 88.57 percent of the vote, according to provisional results released Tuesday.

Sassou Nguesso, 77, has been in power for an accumulated 36 years, first taking the helm of the central African state in 1979.

His landslide first-round victory, announced by the interior minister citing figures from the electoral commission, had been widely expected.

Turnout was put at 67.55 percent.