Felix Tshisekedi wins a landslide victory to secure a second term in election the opposition has labelled a ‘farce’
The Democratic Republic of Congo’s President Felix Tshisekedi won re-election with more than 70 percent of the vote. The preliminary results of the December 20 election were announced in the capital, Kinshasa, on Sunday amid demands from the opposition and some civil society groups for the vote to be rerun due to massive logistical problems that put the validity of the outcome into question.
Tshisekedi was followed by businessman Moise Katumbi, who received 18% of the vote, and Martin Fayulu, who received 5%. Nobel Peace Prize winner Denis Mukwege, a physician renowned for treating women brutalized by sexual violence in eastern Congo, got less than 1%.
Opposition candidates opposing the results have two days to submit their claims, and the constitutional court has seven days to decide. The final results are expected on January 10, and the president is scheduled to be sworn in at the end of that month.
The logistical problems included many polling stations either opening late or not opening at all. Materials were sometimes lacking, and many voter cards were rendered illegible due to smudged ink.
“If a foreign country considers these elections to be elections, there’s a problem,” Fayulu said at a news conference in the capital on Sunday before the results were announced. “It’s a farce, don’t accept [the results].”
Source : Africanews
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