The president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Felix Tshisekedi, was declared the winner on Sunday of December’s presidential vote in an election marred by severe logistical problems, protests and calls for its annulment from some opposition candidate.
Mr. Tshisekedi won more than 13 million votes, or 73 percent of the total ballots cast, said Denis Kadima, the head of the country’s electoral commission. Only more than 18 million people, out of 44 million registered voters, voted, Mr. Kadima said. The provisional results will now be sent to the country’s Constitutional Court for confirmation.
The announcement is a critical moment in an election that has been plagued by serious problems, some due to Congo’s vast size, and many fear the outcome could plunge the Central African nation into a new phase of political turmoil. and even the violent riots that have followed other electoral contests in recent years.
The election results matter not only to Congo’s 100 million people, who are suffering after decades of conflict and poor governance, but also to Western countries that consider Congo a critical part of their efforts to curb climate change and make the transition to green energy.
Congo produces 70 percent of the world’s cobalt, a key element in the electric vehicle industry, and has the second-largest rainforest, which absorbs vast quantities of planet-warming carbon dioxide. But for many in Congo, the decades-old, corruption-ridden system of political patronage is seen as the best way to distribute the spoils of those natural resources – which may explain why the presidential race hotly debated.
On December 23, five opposition leaders accused the country’s electoral commission of “gross fraud,” called on the head of the commission to resign and said the entire vote should be annulled. Four days later, opposition leaders staged a demonstration in the capital, Kinshasa, to protest what they called a “sham” election. Security forces surrounded the offices of Martin Fayulu, one of the opposition candidates, and fired tear gas at protesters there, according to his spokesman and videos shared on social media.
Opposition leaders, including Moïse Katumbi, a business tycoon who is President Tshisekedi’s closest rival, condemned the actions of the security forces and promised more marches across the country.
Mr. Katumbi got 3 million votes, or about 18 percent of the ballots counted, the election commission said. Mr. Fayulu got just over 960,000 votes. Most of the other two dozen presidential candidates, including Nobel Peace Prize winner Denis Mukwege, got less than one percent of the vote.
“The unfortunate contestants must accept the democratic game,” Mr. Kadima, the election chief, said on Sunday. “As a people, we must keep in mind that the existence and stability of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is more important than an elected position,” he said, adding, “Let’s not weaken our country.”
But his comments are unlikely to mollify opposition leaders, who have warned of more protests.
“A point of no return has just passed,” Mr. Katumbi said on social media earlier this week. “This first march will be followed by other actions across the country. Cheating, cheating and lying will not go away.”
Mr. Tshisekedi, the incumbent and longtime favorite to win, has repeatedly insisted that the election, which cost more than $1.25 billion to run, is fair and good enough to challenge.
Logistical chaos marred the election before the first votes were cast on Dec. 20. For weeks, election officials scrambled to get materials to 75,000 polling stations in a country the size of the West. Europe and there are few paved roads in the middle of the rainy season. season.
But only 70 percent of polling stations were open on Election Day, the election commission said, prompting it to extend voting to a second day. Opposition leaders denounced the extension, saying it would facilitate fraud. It has also drawn criticism from the Roman Catholic and Protestant churches, which enjoy broad public support throughout Congolese society and operate a network of electoral observers; the churches said the move violated the country’s electoral laws and was unconstitutional.
Voting even continued until December 22 in remote areas including parts of Kwango and Kasai Provinces, Rev. Rigobert Minani, a prominent Catholic campaigner, in a text message.
The election commission acknowledged the delays but insisted that extending the vote did not undermine its legitimacy.
Mr. Tshisekedi, who came to power in 2019 in hotly contested circumstances, hopes this election will be an easy victory.
Unofficial tallies in the previous contest compiled by Catholic and other observers found that Mr. Fayulu, a former oil executive, likely won three times as many votes as Mr. Tshisekedi. . But after weeks of political turmoil, Mr. Tshisekedi struck a power-sharing deal with the outgoing president, Joseph Kabila, who ruled for 18 years.
That deal collapsed within a year, and since then Mr. Tshisekedi has effectively consolidated his power, gaining popular support by providing free primary education to millions of Congolese children. But he failed to keep two key promises — to bring peace to eastern Congo, where conflict has raged since 1996, and to tackle the country’s notorious reputation for corruption.
Instead, political opponents charged, Mr. Tshisekedi and his extended family have amassed considerable wealth during his time in power.
The United States played a key role after Congo’s last election, in December 2018, when it blessed the controversial power-sharing deal between Mr. Tshisekedi and Mr. Kabila. This time, American officials were at pains to emphasize that they did not take sides.
In a statement on December 22, the United States Embassy in Kinshasa cited problems with voting logistics and called on Congolese leaders to “restrain” and peacefully resolve any electoral disputes that may ensue.
Without naming any candidate, Mr. Kadima, the election chief, on Sunday criticized the candidates who he said used vandalism, intimidation, corruption and violence to cheat and win. The final results are due in early January, and once confirmed by the court, a presidential swearing-in is expected at the end of the month.
“We are patient,” Mr. Kadima said of the election process.
Emma Bubola contributed reporting from London.
