Kinshasa (AFP) - Parties supporting outgoing Democratic Republic of Congo president Joseph Kabila won a majority in long-delayed legislative elections, according to an AFP tally of results released Saturday, as the opposition sought a recount of the disputed presidential poll.

Pro-Kabila parties had passed the 250-seat threshold required to secure a majority in the 500-seat national assembly, according to collated results from the Independent National Election Commission (CENI).

More than 15,000 candidates were running in the poll, which determines who will control parliament for the next five years.

Pro-Kabila candidates had secured 288 of the 429 seats so far declared, with 141 going to the opposition.

The huge central African country, which straddles an area the size of western Europe, has been in the grip of a two-year political crisis triggered by Kabila's refusal to step down when his two-term constitutional limit expired at the end of 2016.

A presidential election to choose a successor was delayed three times before finally taking place on December 30, the same day as the legislative poll.

The poll's runner-up Martin Fayulu, an opposition candidate tipped by pollsters as the likely winner of the vote, told supporters on Friday he would demand a recount.

He said he would challenge Corneille Nangaa, head of the election commission "to produce the tally reports from polling stations in front of witnesses" and Congolese and international observers.

Provisional results released on Thursday gave Felix Tshisekedi, a rival opposition candidate, 38.57 percent of the vote, just ahead of Fayulu with 34.8 percent.

Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, the candidate backed by Kabila, came a distant third with 23.8 percent.

The declared result was a surprise to many observers of the mineral-rich but poverty-stricken country, which has suffered two major wars in the past 22 years, as well as bloodshed in elections in 2006 and 2011 that saw Kabila returned to office.

Pre-election opinion polls had flagged Fayulu as clear favourite while Kabila critics predicted an outcome rigged in favour of Shadary.

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The powerful Roman Catholic church bluntly said CENI's provisional result "does not correspond" with data that its 40,000 election monitors had collected at polling stations.

Fayulu's bloc on Friday said he was the true victor, claiming he had garnered 61 percent of the vote.

Candidates have 48 hours after the result to file any appeal, and the Constitutional Court has a week in which to deliberate.

"We don't expect the election to be annulled, but (a decision in favour of) a recount," Fayulu said.

- Unstable giant -

Polling day had unfolded relatively peacefully, but suspicions over the count have deepened.

The turmoil has darkened hopes that the country will have its first peaceful handover of power since it gained independence in 1960.

International reactions to the results have been guarded.

Most leaders issued statements calling for any disputes to be resolved peacefully, but notably lacking any congratulations for Tshisekedi.

Competing appeals in the dispute were pitched to the UN Security Council on Friday.

CENI chief Nangaa, speaking by video conference, pleaded for "the new authorities to be supported by the international community".

Bishop Marcel Utembi, head of the Catholic church's conference of bishops, urged the Security Council to ask CENI to release the records of vote-counting at polling stations to allow for verification.

- Tshisekedi-Kabila deal? -

Analysts said they believed Kabila, 47, had sought to avoid the expected backlash and international condemnation that would have followed had Shadary -- the candidate he publicly supported -- been declared winner.

According to this scenario, he therefore struck a deal with Tshisekedi, head of the country's oldest and biggest opposition party.

Some commentators suggested Kabila would have sought immunity from prosecution for his iron-fisted 18-year rule, and protection from assets seizure in return for offering his support.

Thursday's pre-dawn announcement brought thousands of Tshisekedi supporters onto the streets in celebration, while others who had backed Fayulu came out to protest.

The authorities late Friday imposed an 8pm-5am curfew in Kikwit, a Fayulu stronghold in the west of the country, city mayor Leonard Mutangu told AFP.

Five civilians were killed there on Thursday in a police operation to curb post-election violence, said National Police spokesman Colonel Pierrot-Rombaut Mwanamputu.

Seventeen police were injured, he said, denying earlier reports of police fatalities. A relay station of the national radio and television broadcaster, RTNC, was also ransacked, he added.

In the eastern city of Goma, at least one person was killed, officials said. </s> Parties supporting outgoing Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila won a majority in long-delayed legislative elections, according to the tally of results released Saturday.

Pro-Kabila parties had passed the 250-seat threshold required to secure a majority in the 500-seat national assembly, according to collated results from the Independent National Election Commission (CENI).

More than 15,000 candidates were running in the poll, which determines who will control parliament for the next five years.

Pro-Kabila candidates had secured 288 of the 429 seats so far declared, with 141 going to the opposition.

The huge central African country, which straddles an area the size of western Europe, has been in the grip of a two-year political crisis triggered by Kabila’s refusal to step down when his two-term constitutional limit expired at the end of 2016.

A presidential election to choose a successor was delayed three times before finally taking place on December 30, the same day as the legislative poll.

The poll’s runner-up Martin Fayulu, an opposition candidate tipped by pollsters as the likely winner of the vote, told supporters on Friday he would demand a recount.

He said he would challenge Corneille Nangaa, head of the election commission “to produce the tally reports from polling stations in front of witnesses” and Congolese and international observers.

Provisional results released on Thursday gave Felix Tshisekedi, a rival opposition candidate, 38.57 percent of the vote, just ahead of Fayulu with 34.8 percent.

Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, the candidate backed by Kabila, came a distant third with 23.8 percent.

The declared result was a surprise to many observers of the mineral-rich but poverty-stricken country, which has suffered two major wars in the past 22 years, as well as bloodshed in elections in 2006 and 2011 that saw Kabila returned to office.

Pre-election opinion polls had flagged Fayulu as clear favourite while Kabila critics predicted an outcome rigged in favour of Shadary.

The powerful Roman Catholic church bluntly said CENI’s provisional result “does not correspond” with data that its 40,000 election monitors had collected at polling stations.

Fayulu’s bloc on Friday said he was the true victor, claiming he had garnered 61 percent of the vote.

Candidates have 48 hours after the result to file any appeal, and the Constitutional Court has a week in which to deliberate.

“We don’t expect the election to be annulled, but (a decision in favour of) a recount,” Fayulu said. </s> The ruling coalition of Congo's outgoing President Joseph Kabila has won a large majority of national assembly seats, the electoral commission announced early Saturday, while the presidential election runner-up was poised to file a court challenge alleging fraud.

The national assembly majority sharply reduces the chances of dramatic reforms under the declared presidential election winner, opposition leader Felix Tshisekedi. The election runner-up, Martin Fayulu, has accused Tshisekedi of a backroom deal with Kabila to win power in the mineral-rich nation as the ruling party candidate did poorly.

Congolese face the extraordinary situation of a presidential vote allegedly rigged in favor of the opposition. "This is more than an electoral farce; it's a tragedy," the LUCHA activist group tweeted Saturday, noting the ruling party majority in both national assembly and provincial elections.

Fayulu, a businessman who has been vocal about cleaning up widespread corruption, is filing the court challenge on Saturday.

His opposition coalition on Friday said he won 61 percent of the vote, citing figures compiled by the Catholic Church's 40,000 election observers across the vast Central African country. The figures show Tshieskedi received 18 percent, the coalition said.

The church, the rare authority that many Congolese find trustworthy, has said its figures showed a different winner from the one officially declared. In remarks to U.N. Security Council on Friday, the church urged the electoral commission to release its detailed vote results for public scrutiny.

The commission has said Tshisekedi won with 38 percent of the vote while Fayulu received 34 percent.

This could be Congo's first peaceful, democratic transfer of power since independence from Belgium in 1960, but observers have warned that a court challenge could lead to violence. Some Fayulu supporters have worried that the constitutional court could invalidate the results, keeping Kabila in power until a new election.

There are two options, electoral commission president Corneille Nangaa told the Security Council: The official results are accepted or the vote is annulled.

"Even if Tshisekedi's presidency survives these court challenges, he will be compromised beyond repair and reliant on Kabila, whose patronage network controls most of the country's levers of power, including the security forces," professor Pierre Engelbert, a fellow with at the Atlantic Council's Africa Center, wrote on Friday.

The Dec. 30 election came after more than two turbulent years of delays as many Congolese worried that Kabila, in power since 2001, sought a way to stay in office to protect his sprawling assets.

Statements by the international community, including African regional blocs, have not congratulated Tshisekedi, merely taking note of official results and urging against violence.

Congo's 80 million people have been largely peaceful since the vote, though the U.N. peacekeeping mission has reported at least a dozen deaths in protests in Kwilu province, with authorities noting demonstrations in Kisangani and Mbandaka cities.

Internet service has been cut off across the country since election day.

Tshisekedi had not been widely considered the leading candidate. Long in the shadow of his father, the late opposition leader Etienne, he broke away from the opposition's unity candidate, Fayulu, to stand on his own.

After election results were announced, Tshisekedi said Kabila would be an "important partner" in the transition.

Fayulu, who was backed by two popular opposition leaders barred by the government from running, is seen as more of a threat to Kabila's interests.

The difference between Tshisekedi and Fayulu in official results was some 684,000 votes. One million voters were barred from the election at the last minute, with the electoral commission blaming a deadly Ebola virus outbreak. Elsewhere, observers reported numerous problems including malfunctioning voting machines and polling stations that opened hours late.

The presidential inauguration will be on Jan. 22, the electoral commission said Saturday. </s> KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — The African Union continental body issued a surprise last-minute demand late Thursday for Congo's government to suspend the announcement of final results of the disputed presidential election, citing "serious doubts."

Congo's constitutional court is poised to rule as early as Friday on a challenge filed by the election's declared runner-up. Martin Fayulu has requested a recount, alleging fraud. Upholding the results could spark violence in a country hoping for its first peaceful, democratic transfer of power since independence in 1960.

The AU statement said heads of state and government agreed to "urgently dispatch" a high-level delegation to Congo to find "a way out of the post-electoral crisis" in the vast Central African nation rich in the minerals key to smartphones and electric cars around the world.

"This is truly incredible," tweeted Jason Stearns, director of the Congo Research Group at New York University. "Usually, the African Union defers to the subregion ... in this case they departed dramatically."

Congo faces the extraordinary situation of an election allegedly rigged in favor of the opposition. There was no immediate government comment.

Fayulu accuses the administration of outgoing President Joseph Kabila of falsifying the results to declare opposition leader Felix Tshisekedi the winner after the ruling party candidate did poorly. Fayulu has cited figures compiled by the influential Catholic Church's 40,000 election observers that found he won 61 percent of the vote.

Two sets of leaked data show that Fayulu won the election by a landslide, according to an investigation published this week by Radio France International and other media working with the Congo Research Group.

In the first set of data, attributed to Congo's electoral commission and representing 86 percent of the votes, Fayulu won 59.4 percent while Tshisekedi received 19 percent. The second set of data, from the Catholic Church's mission, represents 43 percent of the votes. In it, Tshisekedi and ruling party candidate Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary each received less than 20 percent.

Fayulu, a lawmaker and businessman who is outspoken about cleaning up Congo's sprawling corruption, is widely seen as posing more of a threat to Kabila, his allies and the vast wealth they have amassed. Tshisekedi, the son of charismatic opposition leader Etienne who died in 2017, is relatively untested and has said little since the Dec. 30 election.

The AU statement was issued after Congo's foreign minister and deputy prime minister briefed "a number of heads of state and government" from across the continent on the crisis. It said some of the heads of state would join the AU Commission chair, Moussa Faki Mahamat, in the urgent mission to Congo.

Pressure from African nations is seen as having more of an impact on Congo's government, which was annoyed by Western pressure during more than two years of turbulent election delays.

The AU statement reflects serious concern by states about the threat of more unrest in Congo that could spill across borders and destabilize its many neighbors.

But countries have wavered on how to address the crisis. The AU statement came hours after the 16-nation Southern African Development Community backed off its earlier demand for an election recount, instead urging the international community to respect Congo's sovereignty. It stressed the need for stability in a country where conflicts over the past two decades have killed millions of people.

The AU statement noted that SADC leaders attended the wider continental talks.

Congo's election had been meant to take place in late 2016, and many Congolese worried that Kabila, in power since 2001, was seeking a way to stay in office. Barred from serving three consecutive terms, Kabila already has hinted he might run again in 2023.

Election observers reported multiple problems, including the last-minute barring of some 1 million voters in the east, with the electoral commission blaming a deadly Ebola outbreak. That alone undermines the election's credibility, some observers said.

All of the election results, not just the presidential ones, have been widely questioned after Kabila's ruling coalition won a majority in legislative and provincial votes while its presidential candidate finished a distant third. </s> People in the Democratic Republic of Congo have begun voting in a presidential election that could bring the troubled country’s first peaceful, democratic transfer of power.

People in the Democratic Republic of Congo have begun voting in a presidential election that could bring the troubled country’s first peaceful, democratic transfer of power.

Voters go to polls in DR Congo presidential election

Some unrest is feared after a last-minute decision to bar an estimated one million people from voting because of a deadly Ebola virus outbreak in the country’s east.

The decision has been widely criticised as threatening the credibility of the election.

Two main opposition candidates, Martin Fayulu and Felix Tshisekedi, are challenging President Joseph Kabila’s preferred successor, former interior minister Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, who is under sanctions from the European Union.

Amid rainy weather in the capital, Kinshasa, Mr Kabila and Mr Shadary voted at the central Gombe Institute polling station.

“My message today to my compatriots is to come and vote for their candidates and brave the rain,” said Mr Kabila.

Mr Shadary called for “peace and calm”, adding: “I am very confident in victory because the Congolese people will trust me, I campaigned all over the country.”

DR Congo’s 40 million registered voters are using electronic voting machines with touch screens for the first time amid opposition concerns that the results could be manipulated.

Some observers have said voting materials did not reach some polling stations in time.

At stake is a country rich in minerals including those crucial to the world’s smartphones and electric cars, and yet DR Congo remains desperately underdeveloped. Corruption and insecurity are widespread. </s> The African Union continental body issued a surprise last-minute demand late Thursday for Congo's government to suspend the announcement of final results of the disputed presidential election, citing "serious doubts."

Congo's constitutional court is poised to rule as early as Friday on a challenge filed by the election's declared runner-up. Martin Fayulu has requested a recount, alleging fraud. Upholding the results could spark violence in a country hoping for its first peaceful, democratic transfer of power since independence in 1960.

The AU statement said heads of state and government agreed to "urgently dispatch" a high-level delegation to Congo to find "a way out of the post-electoral crisis" in the vast Central African nation rich in the minerals key to smartphones and electric cars around the world.

"This is truly incredible," tweeted Jason Stearns, director of the Congo Research Group at New York University. "Usually, the African Union defers to the subregion ... in this case they departed dramatically."

Congo faces the extraordinary situation of an election allegedly rigged in favor of the opposition. There was no immediate government comment.

Fayulu accuses the administration of outgoing President Joseph Kabila of falsifying the results to declare opposition leader Felix Tshisekedi the winner after the ruling party candidate did poorly. Fayulu has cited figures compiled by the influential Catholic Church's 40,000 election observers that found he won 61 percent of the vote.

Two sets of leaked data show that Fayulu won the election by a landslide, according to an investigation published this week by Radio France International and other media working with the Congo Research Group.

In the first set of data, attributed to Congo's electoral commission and representing 86 percent of the votes, Fayulu won 59.4 percent while Tshisekedi received 19 percent. The second set of data, from the Catholic Church's mission, represents 43 percent of the votes. In it, Tshisekedi and ruling party candidate Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary each received less than 20 percent.

Fayulu, a lawmaker and businessman who is outspoken about cleaning up Congo's sprawling corruption, is widely seen as posing more of a threat to Kabila, his allies and the vast wealth they have amassed. Tshisekedi, the son of charismatic opposition leader Etienne who died in 2017, is relatively untested and has said little since the Dec. 30 election.

The AU statement was issued after Congo's foreign minister and deputy prime minister briefed "a number of heads of state and government" from across the continent on the crisis. It said some of the heads of state would join the AU Commission chair, Moussa Faki Mahamat, in the urgent mission to Congo.

Pressure from African nations is seen as having more of an impact on Congo's government, which was annoyed by Western pressure during more than two years of turbulent election delays.

The AU statement reflects serious concern by states about the threat of more unrest in Congo that could spill across borders and destabilize its many neighbors.

But countries have wavered on how to address the crisis. The AU statement came hours after the 16-nation Southern African Development Community backed off its earlier demand for an election recount, instead urging the international community to respect Congo's sovereignty. It stressed the need for stability in a country where conflicts over the past two decades have killed millions of people.

The AU statement noted that SADC leaders attended the wider continental talks.

Congo's election had been meant to take place in late 2016, and many Congolese worried that Kabila, in power since 2001, was seeking a way to stay in office. Barred from serving three consecutive terms, Kabila already has hinted he might run again in 2023.

Election observers reported multiple problems, including the last-minute barring of some 1 million voters in the east, with the electoral commission blaming a deadly Ebola outbreak. That alone undermines the election's credibility, some observers said.

All of the election results, not just the presidential ones, have been widely questioned after Kabila's ruling coalition won a majority in legislative and provincial votes while its presidential candidate finished a distant third. </s> The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has rejected a call from the African Union (AU) to suspend announcement of the final results of last month’s presidential election, asserting the independence of the constitutional court considering an appeal of the vote count.

"The court is independent, both of us and the African Union," a government spokesman said, adding that it is not the business of the government or even of the African Union to tell the court what it should do."

The DRC’s constitutional court is expected to rule as early as Friday on declared runner-up Martin Fayulu’s request for a recount, alleging fraud.

The AU continental body issued a statement late Thursday calling for Congo's government to suspend the announcement of final results, citing “serious doubts'” about the vote.

Opposition candidate Felix Tshisekedi was declared the winner of elections Sunday, but Fayulu has challenged the outcome in court, claiming that his opponent made a deal with outgoing president Joseph Kabila.

Fayulu's opposition coalition said Friday he captured 61 percent of the vote, citing figures from the Catholic Church, which placed 40,000 election observers across the Central African country. The coalition said Tshisekedi won 18 percent of the vote. By law, only the electoral commission can announce election results in Congo.

Pre-election polls indicated that Fayulu was the favorite to replace outgoing President Joseph Kabila. Kabila backed another candidate, his former interior minister, Emmanuel Shadary.

 

 The AU statement said that heads of state and government agreed to “urgently dispatch'' a high-level delegation to Congo, as early as Monday, to find “a way out of the post-electoral crisis,'' in response to concern of Congo's many neighbors that more unrest could spill across borders.

 

 The DRC’s constitutional court could uphold the election results, order a recount or order a new election.

Meanwhile, U.N. Human Rights office said that it has documented 34 deaths, 59 wounded and 241 arbitrary arrests in Congo since provisional election results were announced on January 10. </s> The announcement of the results of the Congo's presidential election has been postponed, the country's top electoral official said.

The winner of the Dec. 30 election will not be made public Sunday as expected, the head of the national electoral commission Corneille Nangaa told The Associated Press. The electoral commission will confirm the delay later Sunday.

The postponement in announcing the winner may increase tensions, as some Congolese see it as a way for President Joseph Kabila's ruling party to manipulate the results in order to cling to power.

The Catholic Church, an influential voice in this strongly Catholic nation, said that it already knows there is a clear victor, according to data reported by its 40,000 election observers deployed in polling stations. The church urged the electoral commission to announce accurate results.

As regulations say only the electoral commission can announce election results, the church did name the winner. The government has already cut internet access across the vast Central African country to prevent any speculation on social media about who might have won the election.

Congo faces what could be its first democratic, peaceful transfer of power since independence from Belgium in 1960. Election observers and the opposition have raised concerns about voting irregularities as the country chooses a successor to longtime ruler Kabila, although a landslide win by one of the opposition candidates could remove any doubts that the election was skewed to the ruling party's candidate.

The United States and the African Union, among others, have urged Congo to release results that reflect the true will of the people. The U.S. has threatened sanctions against those who undermine the democratic process. Western election observers were not invited to watch the vote.

While Congo has been largely calm on and after the Dec. 30 vote, President Donald Trump informed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that about 80 military personnel and "appropriate combat equipment" had been deployed to neighboring Gabon to support the security of U.S. citizens and staffers and diplomatic facilities. More will be deployed as needed to Gabon, Congo or neighboring Republic of Congo, he wrote.

Ahead of the vote, the U.S. ordered "non-emergency" government employees and family members to leave the country.

Congo's ruling party, which backs Kabila's preferred candidate Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, has called the church's attitude "irresponsible and anarchist."

Leading opposition candidate Martin Fayulu, a businessman and lawmaker, has accused Congolese authorities of impeding his campaign. His campaign manager, Pierre Lumbi, on Saturday accused the electoral commission of being "in the process of postponing the publication of the results."

The delay is because of the slow compilation of the results by electoral officials. By Friday evening, the commission had compiled only 44 percent of results, said Jean-Pierre Kalamba, who said the process had been slowed by the requirement that only manually counted ballots could be used.

At stake is a vast country rich in the minerals that power the world's mobile phones and laptops, yet desperately underdeveloped. Some 40 million people were registered to vote, though at the last minute about 1 million voters were barred by the electoral commission which cited a deadly Ebola virus outbreak in eastern Congo. The eastern region is an opposition center and critics said the disenfranchisement of voters there undermines the election's credibility.

The presidential election took place more than two years behind schedule, while a court ruled that Kabila could stay in office until the vote was held. The delay led to sometimes deadly protests as authorities cracked down, and Shadary is now under European Union sanctions for his role in the crackdown as interior minister at the time.

Kabila, who took office in 2001 after his father was assassinated, is barred from serving three consecutive terms but has hinted that he could run again in 2023. That has led many Congolese to suspect that he will rule from the shadows if Shadary takes office.

Internet and text messaging services were cut off the day after the election in an apparent effort by the government to prevent social media speculation about the results. The U.S. has urged the government to restore internet service, and a U.N. human rights spokeswoman has warned that "these efforts to silence dissent could backfire considerably when the results are announced." </s> (Bloomberg) -- The Democratic Republic of Congo started voting Sunday for a successor to long-serving President Joseph Kabila after a tense campaign the opposition said was marred by crackdowns and disruptions.

Kabila’s handpicked successor, Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, is running for the ruling coalition and faces strong challenges from opposition alliances headed by Felix Tshisekedi and Martin Fayulu. The current president, in power for almost 18 years, is barred by the constitution from running for a third term, having won elections in 2006 and 2011. Voters will also select national and provincial lawmakers.

“This is going to be a historic vote,” Martin Mudiayi, a shop attendant, said as he waited for his turn to vote in a polling station in the eastern city of Goma. “The time has come for President Kabila and his group to step down and give a chance to a new leadership.”

Congo, Africa’s biggest copper producer and a key source of minerals essential to the smartphone and electric-vehicle industries, could be on the verge of its first transition of power through the ballot box since independence in 1960. Despite the presence of more than 16,000 United Nations peacekeepers in the vast central African country, the government took the unusual step to refuse logistical support from the UN and financial assistance from international donors to organize the vote. It also barred some foreign observers.

“We committed to financing our electoral process entirely ourselves for the very first time in our history,” Kabila said on state TV late Saturday. “For us, it’s an effort to shield our country from foreign interference liable to thwart the will of self-determination of our people.”

The opposition accuses the electoral commission of preparing an election that’ll be neither free nor fair and the Congolese state of hampering their campaigns while aiding Shadary’s. At least seven of Fayulu and Tshisekedi’s supporters were killed and many more wounded by security forces from Dec. 9 to 13 as they gathered for rallies in various parts of the country, according to New York-based Human Rights Watch.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said she was “deeply worried about the reports of excessive use of force, including live ammunition, by security forces against opposition rallies.”

The electoral commission pushed back the polls, already two years late, by another seven days from Dec. 23, blaming a fire at one of its warehouses in the capital, Kinshasa, and also suspended campaigning three days early in the city as Fayulu was planning a mass meeting.

The authority then postponed elections in three parts of the country until March, citing an Ebola outbreak, militia attacks and inter-communal violence. That effectively disenfranchised 1.2 million of Congo’s 40 million registered voters in regions known as strongholds of Kabila’s critics. Health Minister Oly Ilunga previously said the virus wouldn’t hinder elections.

Tshisekedi, the leader of Congo’s largest opposition party, has teamed up with Vital Kamerhe, who heads another major party and came third in 2011’s election, while Fayulu is boosted by the support of heavyweights Jean-Pierre Bemba and Moise Katumbi.

Two recent polls published by New York University’s Congo Research Group record Shadary as trailing the opposition by a large margin, with Tshisekedi topping a survey in October and Fayulu leading a second published Dec. 28.

Provisional results of the presidential contest are due to be announced Jan. 6 and the final decision on Jan. 15. The next head of state is scheduled to be sworn in three days later.

To contact the reporters on this story: William Clowes in Kinshasa at wclowes@bloomberg.net;Ignatius Ssuuna in Goma at issuuna@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Paul Richardson at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net, Pauline Bax, Michael Gunn
Voters in the Republic of the Congo return to the polls for the second round of an election for 139 National Assembly members, after the governing Congolese Party of Labour won 70 seats in the first round two weeks earlier.