Felix Tshisekedi, the president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was reelected with over 70% of the vote, the election commission announced on Sunday.
The opposition and a few civil society organizations demanded that the poll be redone because of significant logistical issues that cast doubt on the authenticity of the results when the preliminary results of the Dec. 20 election were declared in Kinshasa, the country’s capital.
Businessman Moise Katumbi, who garnered 18% of the vote, and Martin Fayulu, who received 5%, came in after Tshisekedi. Less than 1% went to Nobel Peace Prize winner Denis Mukwege, a doctor famous for treating women who had been sexually abused in the eastern Congo.
Approximately 18 million people cast ballots in the election, representing a turnout of over 40%. Election chief Denis Kadima announced that the results will be referred to the constitutional court for validation.
The candidates contesting the results have two days to present their arguments, after which the constitutional court has seven days to reach a decision. The president is set to take office at the end of January, when the final results are anticipated.
Many Congolese have low faith in the nation’s institutions due to the country’s history of contentious elections that have occasionally descended into violence. Opposition candidates, including as Katumbi, declared their rejection of the results prior to Sunday’s announcement and urged the populace to mobilize.
Numerous polling places opened late or not at all as a result of logistical issues. A lot of voter cards had smeared ink that rendered them unreadable, and some were missing materials.
Parts of the nation were still casting ballots five days after election day, and voting in the election had to be extended into a second day—something local observers and civil society organizations have considered unconstitutional.
“If a foreign country considers these elections to be elections, there’s a problem,” Fayulu said at a news conference in the capital Sunday before the results were announced. “It’s a farce, don’t accept (the results).”
Earlier this week, clashes erupted between some of Fayulu’s supporters and police officers who fired tear gas at protesters who threw rocks and barricaded themselves inside the opposition headquarters.