Congo’s President Felix Tshisekedi is asserted winner of election that opposition needs redone

KINSHASA, Congo — Congo’s President Felix Tshisekedi received reelection with greater than 70% of the vote, the nation’s election fee mentioned Sunday.

The preliminary outcomes of the Dec. 20 election have been introduced within the capital, Kinshasa, amid calls for from the opposition and a few civil society teams for the vote to be rerun attributable to large logistical issues that put the validity of the end result into query.

Tshisekedi was adopted by businessman Moise Katumbi, who acquired 18% of the vote, and Martin Fayulu, who acquired 5%. Nobel Peace Prize winner Denis Mukwege, a doctor famend for treating ladies brutalized by sexual violence in japanese Congo, received lower than 1%.

The election had greater than a 40% turnout with some 18 million folks voting. The outcomes can be despatched to the constitutional courtroom for affirmation, election chief Denis Kadima mentioned.

Opposition candidates opposing the outcomes have two days to submit their claims, and the constitutional courtroom then has seven days to resolve. The last outcomes are anticipated on January 10, and the president is scheduled to be sworn in on the finish of that month.

Congo has a historical past of disputed elections that may flip violent, and there’s little confidence amongst many Congolese within the nation’s establishments. Before the outcomes have been introduced Sunday, opposition candidates, together with Katumbi, mentioned they rejected the outcomes and referred to as on the inhabitants to mobilize.

The logistical issues included many polling stations being late in opening or not opening in any respect. Some lacked supplies, and plenty of voter playing cards had smudged ink that made them illegible.

Voting within the election needed to be prolonged right into a second day- one thing native observers and civil society organizations have referred to as unlawful – and components of the nation have been nonetheless casting ballots 5 days after election day.

“If a foreign country considers these elections to be elections, there’s a problem,” Fayulu mentioned at a information convention within the capital Sunday earlier than the outcomes have been introduced. “It’s a farce, don’t accept (the results).”

Earlier this week, clashes erupted between a few of Fayulu’s supporters and law enforcement officials who fired tear gasoline at protesters who threw rocks and barricaded themselves contained in the opposition headquarters.

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Mednick reported from Dakar, Senegal