Santo Domingo (AFP) - Opposition candidate Luis Abinader swept to victory in the Dominican Republic's presidential election, early results showed Monday, ending 16 years of unbroken rule by the Caribbean nation's center-left PLD party after voters braved a worsening coronavirus outbreak to cast their ballots.
Abinader, the candidate of the Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM), took 52.4 percent of the vote with 93.2 percent of polling station returns counted, the Central Electoral Board said.
"We won, today we won," a victorious Abinader told dozens of supporters at his campaign headquarters in the capital Santo Domingo.
"This is the change the Dominican people voted for," said the 52-year-old businessman, who will take office on August 16.
Gonzalo Castillo, standing for outgoing President Danilo Medina's Dominican Liberation Party (PLD), conceded late Sunday after winning just 37.69 percent of the vote.
The US State Department congratulated the Dominican Republic on its "democratic elections", and said in a statement it hoped to work "together to promote security and economic prosperity and safeguard democracy" in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Abinader -- whose holding company has interests in tourism, agriculture and cement -- has the dual challenge of reviving the coronavirus-hit economy and regaining public trust after the Latin America-wide Odebrecht corruption scandal embroiled local officials.
- Record coronavirus infections -
Voters lined up to cast their ballots wearing masks and standing six feet apart as the presidential and legislative polls went ahead Sunday despite soaring coronavirus cases.
The polls were originally scheduled for May 17 but were postponed as the virus outbreak gathered pace across the Caribbean and Latin America.
Gunfire outside a polling station in the capital left one person dead after an argument among opposing party activists turned violent, police said.
But elsewhere, voting appeared to progress smoothly, with few disruptions despite the extra virus precautions.
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