Guinea Bissau’s presidential election goes into runoff

Guinea Bissau’s presidential election has gone into a runoff after the country’s former Prime Minister Carlos Gomes failed to secure an outright majority in the first round. The first round was held on Sunday to find a successor to Former President Malam Bacai Sanha, who died in January. 62-year-old Gomes garnered 48.97 percent of the votes and Former President Kumba Yala came second with 23.36 percent. Yala, along with five opposition candidates, have called for the first round’s results to be annulled, saying the polls were riddled with fraud. The West African country, one of the poorest in the world, has a history of coups and uprisings since it declared independence from Portugal in 1974.