KINSHASA: Martin Fayulu, who came second
in DR Congo's presidential election, has appealed to the Constitutional
Court to annul the provisional result which awarded victory to his
opposition rival Felix Tshisekedi, his lawyer said Saturday (Jan 12).
The request was filed on Friday ahead of a 48-hour deadline for any
appeals against the shock result which was announced before dawn on
Thursday.
"The request seeks the annulment of the result declaring Felix
Tshisekedi president," Toussaint Ekombe told reporters outside the
court.
It was the latest twist in a long-running political crisis which erupted
two years ago when President Joseph Kabila refused to step down at the
end of his constitutional term in office, sparking massive protests
which were brutally repressed.
The announcement of Felix Tshisekedi's purported victory in DRC's presidential elections
The announcement of Felix Tshisekedi's purported victory in DRC's
presidential elections brought Fayulu supporters onto the streets in
protest in Kinshasa and elsewhere. (Photo: AFP/John WESSELS)
On Dec 30, after repeated delays, voters finally went to the polls to
choose his successor in an election pitting two opposition candidates,
Fayulu and Tshisekedi, against Kabila's handpicked successor, Emmanuel
Ramazani Shadary.
Opinion polls had flagged Fayulu as the clear favourite, although most
observers predicted a result rigged in favour of Shadary. But the
results declared Tshisekedi the victor with 38.57 per cent, while Fayulu
came second with 34.8 per cent.
The court now has eight days to consider the request.
"I got more than 61 per cent of the vote compared with the others, who each got 18 per cent," Fayulu told AFP.
"Between them, they didn't get more than 40 per cent."
Police have been deployed on the streets to head off any violence over the results of DR
Police have been deployed on the streets to head off any violence over
the results of DR Congo's presidential election. (Photo: AFP/John
WESSELS)
'BROKE THE LAW'
At stake is political stewardship of the notoriously unstable central
African nation, which has never known a peaceful transition of power
since independence from Belgium in 1960.
Fayulu has denounced the result as an "electoral coup" engineered by Kabila in which Tshisekedi was "totally complicit".
Explaining the appeal, the 62-year-old said election chief Corneille
Nangaa had "broken electoral law" and that only a recount would
establish the truth of what happened at the ballot box.
In Kinshasa, police roughly broke up a rally of pro-Fayulu supporters who had gathered near the
In Kinshasa, police roughly broke up a rally of pro-Fayulu supporters
who had gathered near the court where the runner-up filed a request to
annul the election result. (Photo: AFP/TONY KARUMBA)
On Friday, the former oil executive said he didn't expect the result to be annulled but that the court would approve a recount.
DR Congo's powerful Roman Catholic church also said the election board's
provisional result "does not correspond" with data collected from
polling stations by its 40,000 election monitors.
Ahead of the news conference, police roughly dispersed a crowd of around
150 Fayulu supporters who had gathered near the court, and also saw off
others who had rallied near his Kinshasa home.
KABILA MPS WIN PARLIAMENT
Hours earlier, the election committee unveiled the results of
legislative elections, which also took place on Dec 30, with supporters
of the outgoing president winning a majority in the 500-seat National
Assembly.
Provisional results indicated candidates from the pro-Kabila FCC
coalition secured up to 288 of the 485 seats so far declared, putting
them in control of parliament for the next five years. Another 141 seats
went to the opposition.
International observers have been closely watching developments in
sub-Saharan Africa's largest country, which covers an area equivalent to
that of western Europe, with reactions to the election outcome guarded.
Felix Tshisekedi
Felix Tshisekedi, declared winner of presidential elections in Democratic Republic of Congo. (Graphic: AFP/Juliette VILROBE)
Most leaders called for any disagreements to be resolved peacefully in
statements that pointedly lacked any congratulations for Tshisekedi,
with the dispute over the results playing out in the UN Security Council
on Friday.
Addressing the Council by video conference, election chief Nangaa
pleaded for "the new authorities to be supported by the international
community".
But Bishop Marcel Utembi, head of CENCO, which represents DR Congo's
Catholic bishops, urged the Security Council to ask the election
committee to release data on the counting at polling stations to allow
for verification.
TSHISEKEDI-KABILA DEAL?
Analysts said it was likely Kabila had struck a deal with the
55-year-old opposition chief to avoid a violent backlash and the
international condemnation that would have followed if Shadary had been
declared winner.
In turn, Kabila - who has ruled the country with an iron fist since 2001
- was likely to seek immunity from prosecution and protection for his
family's business assets.
Thursday's pre-dawn announcement brought thousands of Tshisekedi
supporters onto the streets in celebration, while others who had backed
Fayulu came out to protest.
On Friday, the authorities imposed an overnight curfew in Kikwit, a
Fayulu stronghold east of Kinshasa, where five civilians had died during
a protest on Thursday, the mayor told AFP.
Another person also died during a protest in the eastern city of Goma, police said.
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