Congo’s surprise election results provoke celebration and disbelief - The Washington Post

NAIROBI — Thousands of revelers flocked to the rundown opposition headquarters of Congo’s Union for Democratic and Social Progress, whose candidate Felix Tshisekedi was proclaimed winner of the nation’s presidential election early Thursday. His win, in a country yet to experience a democratic transfer of power, was seen by some as a new dawn.

But on the other side of Congo’s sprawling capital, Kinshasa, another opposition candidate who had been heavily favored in pre-election polls and tallies conducted by election observers called the results “an unacceptable electoral fraud.”

Martin Fayulu was calm but aggrieved when he addressed the press and urged the largest election observer mission to “reveal to the Congolese people the name of the person who truly incarnated the choice of our people.”

In a statement, he described the results as an “electoral hold up” that did not reflect the ballots, and he called on people to “rise as one man to protect victory.”

The observer mission run by Congo’s powerful Catholic Church, the National Episcopal Conference of Congo, known as Cenco, said at a news conference Thursday that its results did not match the electoral commission’s.

The dispute could ignite outrage among supporters of Fayulu’s coalition, as well as isolate Congo further from an already skeptical international community. Fayulu and other losing candidates are entitled to appeal the election results.

Voices of doubt were starting to trickle in from outside Congo by Thursday morning.

“We must have clarity on these results, which are the opposite to what we expected,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told French media. “The Catholic Church of Congo did its tally and announced completely different results.”

Government spokesman Lambert Mende retorted that the French should keep out of the election.

“France has nothing to do with the vote in the Congo, and if Mr. Le Drian thinks Congo is a province or colony of France, he just needs to name the president of Congo,” Mende said.

The vote was marked by widespread irregularities. In its final report, Cenco said 38 percent of polling stations it observed were missing materials at the start of Election Day, and that in hundreds of cases, ballot boxes were not sealed before counting and polling stations did not properly verify voters’ identities.

A separate domestic observer mission called Symocel said it witnessed 52 major irregularities, including physical tampering with results, in the 101 vote-counting centers it monitored. There were 179 such compilation centers across Congo.

The electoral commission also cited an ongoing Ebola outbreak in postponing voting in the eastern cities of Beni and Butembo, effectively barring more than a million people from the presidential vote in areas that were expected to heavily back Fayulu. The difference in the number of votes received between Tshisekedi and Fayulu countrywide was smaller than the registered voting populations in those two cities.

[Opposition candidate Felix Tshisekedi declared winner of Congo’s election]

Tshisekedi ultimatelydeclared victory with the support of only 17 percent of Congo’s registered voters. Turnout was just above 47 percent across the country.

In a message to The Post, Fayulu accused Tshisekedi of entering into a “backroom arrangement” with Congo’s ruling party to steal the election from him.

A spokesman for the handpicked candidate of President Joseph Kabila — who is stepping down after 18 years in power — congratulated Tshisekedi.

“Of course we are not happy, as our candidate lost, but the Congolese people have chosen, and democracy has triumphed,” Kikaya bin Karubi told Reuters. Their candidate, Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, was a relatively obscure choice and finished far behind Tshisekedi and Fayulu, according to the electoral commission’s results.

Tshisekedi spoke highly of Kabila in an address to supporters on Thursday morning, calling him “an important political partner” and promising to rule not on his party’s behalf but for all of Congo’s 80 million people.

The overtures might have struck Tshisekedi’s father Étienne as a betrayal of sorts. The elder Tshisekedi spent 35 years as Congo’s most outspoken opposition figure and a constant thorn in the side of Kabila.

Kabila so despised him that he barred Étienne Tshisekedi from being buried in Kinshasa when he died in early 2017. The younger Tshisekedi’s running mate in this year’s election, however, was Vital Kamerhe, a former campaign manager for Kabila.

While Fayulu loudly denounced the election’s irregularities, Tshisekedi remained mostly silent before the vote and in its aftermath.

Even if Fayulu’s allegation of a power-sharing agreement between Tshisekedi and Kabila’s party turns out to be true, the results represent a major weakening of Kabila’s position. Over his nearly two decades in power, he has consolidated authority in the office of the president, which Tshisekedi will command should he be able to weather the likely challenges to his win.

Internet and text messaging services remain shut down across Congo, as they have been for almost two weeks, indicating that the government may be anticipating social unrest.

Read more:

Tension mounts as Congo’s election commission delays results announcement

Both sides hint at victory in Congo election as counting continues

Today’s coverage from Post correspondents around the world

Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Read Again https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/congos-surprise-election-results-provoke-celebration-and-disbelief/2019/01/10/385b6d7e-14b3-11e9-b6ad-9cfd62dbb0a8_story.html

Bagikan Berita Ini