Two former Guinea-Bissau prime ministers are running for the presidency in a runoff election after the incumbent failed to reach the second round of voting.

On Nov. 29, the National Election Commission of Guinea-Bissau (NEC) announced the results of the first round of presidential election, which showed former prime ministers Domingos Simoes Pereira and Umaro Sissoco Embalo in the lead with 40.13 percent and 27.65 percent of the votes respectively.

The incumbent president Jose Mario Vaz only obtained 12.41 percent.

President Vaz, in power since 2014, has vowed to respect the results in a gesture of political stability. Vaz is the first democratically elected president to complete a full term without being deposed or assassinated since the country gained independence from Portugal in 1974.

Pollsters put Pereira as the frontrunner in the runoff vote. The 56-year-old has since been endorsed by six of the 10 eliminated candidates.

He has pledged to improve the West African country's economic conditions that would pave the way for development.

The participants of the run-off vote only need a simple majority to become the next president.

Guinea-Bissau, a nation of around 1.5 million people, has long been beset by poverty, corruption and drug trafficking. In recent years however, it has heightened the war against narcotics and arrested many drug traffickers.

The results of the run-off vote are expected in the next few days.