Politics
Democratic Republic of Congo: Elections Update
Preliminary results from Congo’s presidential election show incumbent Joseph Kabila leading opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi, although the country’s election chief warned only a small percentage of precincts had been counted.
With around 15 percent of votes tallied, Kabila leads with over 1,52 million, around 52 percent, according to results announced Friday. Tshisekedi is second among the 11 candidates with 997,074, or 34 percent.
Election commission president Daniel Ngoy Mulunda released the early results four days after Monday’s vote, after the Election Day was extended for three days to give porters time to transport ballots from the remote corners of this giant nation.
Compiling the results was chaotic. In the capital Kinshasa, sacks of ballots brought in on the backs of poll workers piled up on grass outside the counting center, many having split open. People trampled on the ballots which had spilled on the dirt path leading into the warehouse.
Mulunda released the first results after opposition candidate Vital Kamerhe called a press conference urging the commission to publish partial results for the sake of transparency.
Complicating procedures, fake results had been posted on the election commission’s website, said Mulunda. Young Tshisekedi supporters also weaved between cars at downtown intersections, selling a US$1 sheet showing a different set of provisional results which had their choice of president in the lead.
Congo remains on edge after days of violence which left at least 18 dead and seriously wounded 100 more, with most of the deaths caused by troops loyal to Kabila, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in Friday.
