Congo re-elects President Felix Tshisekedi as the leader of the nation as many in the country are claiming that there was electoral fraud in the race.
Tshisekedi won the Democratic Republic of Congo's (DRC) election with more than 70% of the total vote and the country's election commission declared the victory. The preliminary results of the Dec. 20 election were announced in the capital, Kinshasa on Sunday.
Congo Re-Elects President Felix Tshisekedi
It was made amid demands from the opposition and several civil society groups for the vote to be rerun. They claimed that there were massive logistical problems that put the validity of Tshisekedi's win into question.
Finishing behind Tshisekedi was businessman Moise Katumbi who got 18% of the total vote in the country's latest election. A former oil company executive, Martin Fayulu, received 5% of the total vote. On the other hand, Nobel Peace Prize winner Denis Mukwege got less than 1% of the vote.
Congo's election had over 40% turnout out of its roughly 18 million people who are eligible to vote. Election chief Denis Kadima said that the results of the race will be sent to the constitutional court for confirmation, as per Aljazeera.
Opposition candidates who do not agree with Tshisekedi's victory in the elections have two days to submit their claims while the constitutional court has seven days to decide. The final results of the election are expected to be released on Jan. 10, and the president is scheduled to be sworn in at the end of the month.
The DRC has a long history of disputed elections that can sometimes turn into violent encounters. Many of the country's citizens harbor little trust in the nation's institutions. Before the results of the latest race were announced on Saturday, opposition candidates said they rejected them and called on the population to mobilize.
The logistical problems that opposition lawmakers claim include many polling stations either opening late or not opening at all. Furthermore, they said that materials were sometimes lacking and many voter cards were rendered illegible due to smudged ink.
Opposing the Results of the Election
Logistical setbacks, an election day over-run, and an opaque vote count fueled a dispute that risks the country's destabilization. The DRC is the size of Western Europe and is the world's top producer of cobalt and other important industrial commodities, according to CNN.
Five opposition leaders on Dec. 23 accused the country's electoral commission of "massive fraud." They called on the head of the commission to resign and argued that the entire vote should be annulled.
On Sunday, Kadima said that the unfortunate competitors must accept the "democratic game" following the announcement of Tshisekedi's win. He added that the country must keep in mind the existence and stability of the DRC matters more than an elected position.
President Tshisekedi on the other hand insisted that the election he won was fair and good enough despite the challenges that officials faced. The extension of the election to a second day drew criticism from the Roman Catholic and Protestant churches.
These enjoy broad public support across Congolese society and are responsible for running a network of electoral observers. The churches added that the decision violated the nation's electoral laws and that it was unconstitutional, said the New York Times.
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