by Ange Kasongo
KINSHASA (Reuters) – The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) will not annul the results of last week’s presidential election, despite repeated calls from the opposition for a new vote, the spokesperson said – government spokesperson, Patrick Muyaya.
The partial results of the vote which took place on December 20 show that the outgoing president, Félix Tshisekedi, has a considerable lead over his opponents.
The disputed election threatens to further destabilize the DRC, the world’s top producer of cobalt and other industrial minerals and metals, already hit by poverty and a security crisis in the east of the country.
Police on Wednesday forcibly dispersed a banned demonstration in the country’s capital, Kinshasa, organized by people denouncing the dysfunctions that marred the last vote.
The opposition has reported large-scale irregularities and fraud. The electoral commission (CENI) denies these accusations.
Patrick Muyaya said the opposition should wait for the final results to be published and challenge them in court if necessary.
“Coherence would require that as they (the members of the opposition) started the match, they wait for the end of the match (…) That way, they will be able to see how to contest the results,” he said. told reporters.
The team of Moïse Katumbi, one of Félix Tshisekedi’s main rivals, ruled out resorting to legal channels to contest the results, saying state institutions were committed to swinging the vote in favor of the president , and that the vote should be canceled. Other opposition parties also called for a new vote.
Patrick Muyaya indicated that the government was committed to ensuring a fair and transparent vote.
“The contestation of the results does not take place in the streets. We, as a government, will take steps to ensure that public order is maintained at all times and in all places throughout the Republic,” he said. declared.
The CENI is expected to republish the preliminary results of the presidential election before December 31. According to the latest count, Félix Tshisekedi is well ahead of his 18 opponents, with more than 77% of the approximately 9.3 million votes counted so far.
Symocel, a team of local observers, sent a letter to the CENI on December 26 to report the mismanagement of electoral materials and the conduct of electoral operations outside voting centers by commission officials in several provinces. .
“The rate of this phenomenon (…) is so high and is likely to unstoppably distort the results of the ballots that your institution is gradually proclaiming,” the letter indicates.
The coordinator of Symocel, Luc Lutala, confirmed on Wednesday the authenticity of the letter and told Reuters that “there is as much problem in the conduct as in the counting of this vote”.
The CENI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Writing by Anait Miridzhanian, French version Dagmarah Mackos, editing by Kate Entringer)
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