- A group of Congo’s main opposition presidential candidates has called on supporters to protest the release of provisional results.
- The government of Congo had previously rejected calls for a rerun of the elections
The current president of Congo, Felix Tshisekedi, defeated his opponent by a significant margin to win a second five-year tenure.
Felix Tshisekedi, the president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was reelected to a second term on Sunday, the country’s election commission announced. Tshisekedi received over 73% of the vote in this month’s presidential election.
Denis Kadima, the chairman of Congo’s national election commission, CENI, announced the results on Sunday in the country’s capital Kinshasa. Tshisekedi received nearly 13 million of the more than 18 million valid ballots cast, making him the winner with 73.34% of the vote.
The contested election had over 43% of voters turn out, according to Kadima.
Earlier on Sunday a group of Congo’s main opposition presidential candidates asked supporters to take to the streets to protest after the release of the provisional results.
“We categorically reject the sham elections… and its results,” the main opposition candidates said in a joint declaration. They demanded fresh elections be held with a new electoral body on a date to be agreed by all.
“We call on our people to take to the streets en masse after the proclamation of the electoral fraud,” they said.
The government of Congo had previously rejected calls for a rerun of the elections.