Opposition Felix Tshisekedi Declared Winner Of Congolese Presidential Election

The Congolese capital of Kinshasa is reported relatively quiet this Thursday morning as the nation’s electoral commission waited until the wee hours to declare opposition leader Felix Tshisekedi the provisional winner of last month’s long-delayed presidential election in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

With 7 million votes, or 38 percent, Tshisekedi outpaced another opposition frontrunner, Martin Fayulu, who came in second with more than 6 million votes. The governing coalition’s candidate Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary came in third with more than 4 million votes.

“Some observers have suggested that President Joseph Kabila’s government sought to make a deal as hopes faded for a win” for Shadary, the Associated Press repors.As NPR’s Ofeibea Quist-Arcton reports from Kinshasa that the results could lead to protests and allegations of rigging.

“The influential Catholic Bishop’s Conference, which fielded 40,000 observers, says the outcome of the much-anticipated vote is at odds with its tally. Last week the bishops said their observations showed a clear winner – although they did not name Martin Fayulu, the other opposition frontrunner – as that candidate. So Tshisekedi’s apparent victory may become subject to a legal challenge and protests.”

The second-place winner, Fayulu, has not yet indicated whether he will contest the results. Earlier, he said that the results were “not negotiable” and that election officials should not “disguise the truth.” He also made it clear that he was not looking for any deal with Kabila’s governing coalition.

An Angency Report