CAMEROON’S President Paul Biya has been re-elected for a seventh term, the country’s constitutional council said Monday, extending his 36-year rule over the nation.

The 85-year-old president won 71.3 percent of the vote, beating nine other candidates in an election marred by violence and low voter turnout.

Biya was announced the winner of the tensely-contested election amid high-security presence in Yaounde and other major cities.

Riot police and security personnel were deployed to major streets in Douala ahead of the announcement.

Security operatives surrounded the homes of two opposition leaders Sunday, preventing them from attending a planned protest calling for the annulment of the polls.

Biya’s win follows protests and petitions by opposition candidates, who alleged the Oct. 7 polling was rigged in the leader’s favor.

Many voters in Cameroon’s troubled north and southwest regions stayed away from polling booths as violence broke out between security forces and armed separatists.

Biya has often recorded a landslide victory in past elections. He was declared the winner of the 2011 elections by the Supreme Court, which found that he got 77 percent of the vote, beating out 22 other contenders.

Biya maintains his iron grip on the country despite a growing secessionist movement, which has worsened security in the nation.(SD-Agencies)