The constitutional court ruled against Martin Fayulu despite being asked by the African Union to delay a decision CAROLINE THIRION/AFP

The opposition leader in the Democratic Republic of Congo called for demonstrations yesterday after the country’s highest court in effect handed the presidency to his main rival.

Martin Fayulu called himself the “sole legitimate president-elect of the DRC” after an election that international observers considered him to have won. However, the constitutional court refused his request for a recount of December’s poll, in which provisional results made Félix Tshisekedi, with 38.6 per cent of the vote, the victor by less than four points.

The court ruling fuelled fears of unrest. Mr Fayulu claims to have won in a landslide and has accused Mr Tshisekedi of brokering a power-sharing deal with the outgoing leader, Joseph Kabila, which both parties deny. The African Union, which had urged… </s> The Constitutional Court of the Democratic Republic of Congo rejected a challenge to last month's presidential election results. The high court said early Sunday that runner-up Martin Fayulu's challenge to Felix Tshisekedi's win was "inadmissible."

In the verdict, the court also rejected a request to carry out a recount and declared Tshisekedi "President of the Democratic Republic of Congo by simple majority."

The ruling comes shortly after the African Union had asked Congo to delay announcing the final election results, casting "serious doubts" about the vote.

On January 10, DR Congo's Electoral Commission said Tshisekedi had provisionally won with 38.57 percent of the vote against Fayulu's 34.8 percent.

Fayulu had denounced the figures and called the results as an "electoral coup," which he said was forged by Tshisekedi and President Joseph Kabila.

Upon hearing the top court's decision Fayulu remained defiant and declared himself president.

"The constitutional court has just confirmed that it serves a dictatorial regime ... by validating false results, (and enabling) a constitutional coup d'etat," he said in a statement.

"I ask the entire international community not to recognize a power that has neither legitimacy nor legal standing to represent the Congolese people," he said of Tshisekedi, declaring himself "the only legitimate president".

Fayulu called for nationwide protests, in rejection of the court's decision.

Read more: Who is Felix Tshisekedi, DR Congo's president-elect?

Hundreds of supporters of opposition leader Tshisekedi gathered outside the court holding placards saying "no to interference" and "independent country" as riot police stood nearby.

Each evening at 1830 UTC, DW's editors send out a selection of the day's hard news and quality feature journalism. You can sign up to receive it directly here. </s> KINSHASA - Martin Fayulu, who came second in DR Congo's presidential election, has appealed to the Constitutional Court to annul the provisional result which awarded victory to his opposition rival Felix Tshisekedi, his lawyer said Saturday.

"The request seeks the annulment of the result declaring Felix Tshisekedi president," Feli Ekombe told reporters outside the court, saying "it was filed yesterday [Friday]".

Parties supporting outgoing President Joseph Kabila won a majority in the National Assembly in long-delayed legislative elections, according to an AFP tally of results released early Saturday by the electoral commission.

Pro-Kabila parties had passed the 250-seat threshold required to secure a majority in the 500-seat assembly, according to the tally based on information from the Independent National Election Commission (CENI). </s> The dispute over the December 30 presidential vote has raised fears that the political crisis could turn into a bloodbath

KINSHASA, DR Congo – DR Congo's top court said it will give its verdict Saturday, January 19, on final presidential election results which have been challenged at home and abroad, spurning an appeal from the African Union to suspend the announcement.

The Constitutional Court is urgently hearing an appeal over the outcome of the disputed December 30 vote to choose a successor to long-serving President Joseph Kabila, with runner-up Martin Fayulu claiming he was cheated of victory – an assertion repeated elsewhere.

"It (the ruling) will take place today at 3:00 pm (1400 GMT or 10 pm Philippine time)," Constitutional Court spokesman Baudouin Mwehu told Agence France-Presse. However there was no verdict by well after 1500 GMT or 11 pm Philippine time.

Hundreds of supporters of opposition leader Felix Tshisekedi, the declared winner of the election, gathered outside the court holding placards saying "No to interference" and "Independent country" as riot police stood nearby.

On January 10, the electoral commission said Tshisekedi had provisionally won with 38.57 percent of the vote against Fayulu's 34.8 percent.

But Fayulu denounced the figures as an "electoral coup" forged by Tshisekedi and Kabila, and filed an appeal with the Constitutional Court.

At a summit on Thursday, AU leaders said there were "serious doubts" about the vote's provisional results and called for the announcement of the final results to be suspended.

But DR Congo government spokesman Lambert Mende had snubbed the AU demand saying: "I don't think it is the business of the government or even of the African Union to tell the court what it should do."

The AU also announced that its commission chief Moussa Faki Mahamat and Rwanda's President Paul Kagame, currently the AU chairman, were expected to fly to DR Congo on Monday.

The European Union said it joined the AU in inviting "all the Congolese players to work constructively with this (AU) delegation to find a post-electoral solution which respects the Congolese people's vote."

The court is due to give a ruling ahead of the scheduled swearing-in of the next president on Tuesday.

The Financial Times and other foreign media have reported seeing documents that confirm Fayulu as the winner.

"If the court declares Tshisekedi victor, the risk of isolation would be enormous and untenable for a country positioned right in the middle of the continent," Adeline Van Houtte of the Economist Intelligence Unit wrote on Twitter.

Fayulu's camp had hailed the AU appeal for the final result to be put on hold, but Tshisekedi's entourage branded it "scandalous."

The dispute has raised fears that the political crisis that began when Kabila refused to step down at the end of his constitutional term in office two years ago, could turn into a bloodbath.

The US ambassador to Kinshasa Mike Hammer on Saturday protested against an internet shutdown tweeting: "20 days without internet are 20 days too many. It needs to be restored now. Democracies thrive and societies prosper when people are informed and can communicate freely."

The vast and chronically unstable country lived through two regional wars in 1996-97 and 1998-2003, and the previous two elections, in 2006 and 2011, were marred by bloody clashes.

The AU has taken the firmest line of all major international bodies with regard to the post-election crisis.

The Southern African Development Community (SADC), a bloc that includes Angola and South Africa, initially called for a recount and a unity government.

But in a later communique, it made no mention of those demands, instead calling on Congolese politicians to "address any electoral grievances in line with the Democratic Republic of Congo's Constitution and relevant electoral laws." – Rappler.com </s> Congo's Constitutional Court early Sunday declared the election of Felix Tshisekedi as president, rejecting challenges to the vote by runner-up Martin Fayulu, who had alleged fraud.

Tshisekedi, son of the late, charismatic opposition leader Etienne, is now set to be inaugurated on Tuesday.

The declaration came shortly after the African Union in an unprecedented move asked Congo to delay announcing the final election results, citing "serious doubts" about the vote. It planned to send a high-level delegation on Monday to find a way out of the crisis, fearing unrest spilling across borders of the vast central African nation.

The court turned away Fayulu's request for a recount in the Dec. 30 vote. He had accused Congo's electoral commission of announcing results dramatically different from ones posted at polling stations around the country. Leaked data attributed to the commission shows that Fayulu easily won.

But the court said Fayulu did not put forward proof to back his claims.

Outside court, Fayulu's supporters have alleged that outgoing President Joseph Kabila made a backroom deal with the largely untested Tshisekedi once it became clear that the ruling party's candidate did poorly in the election. Neither party has acknowledged the accusations.

Congo, rich in the minerals key to smartphones around the world, is moving close to achieving its first peaceful, democratic transfer of power since independence in 1960.

But observers have warned that the court's upholding of the official results could lead to further unrest. At least 34 people have been killed since provisional results were released on Jan. 10, the United Nations has said.

There was no immediate reaction early Sunday from Tshisekedi, who has said little publicly since the election, or Fayulu. Many people in the courtroom erupted in cheers after the declaration, along with Tshisekedi supporters who had gathered outside.

The court could have ordered a recount or ordered a new election.

It called unfounded a challenge filed by another candidate, Theodore Ngoy, that objected to the electoral commission's last-minute decision to bar some 1 million voters from the election over a deadly Ebola virus outbreak.

The court said Tshisekedi won with more than 7 million votes, or 38 per cent, and Fayulu received 34 per cent. However, leaked data published by some media outlets, attributed to the electoral commission and representing 86 per cent of the votes, show that Fayulu won 59 per cent while Tshisekedi received 19 per cent.

Ahead of the court's decision, both Congo's government and Tshisekedi's party dismissed the AU's request to delay the final results.

Congo's government called it a matter for the court. Tshisekedi's party rejected the request outright.

The continental body's stance is "the work of some mining lobbies seeking to destabilize the Democratic Republic of Congo in order to perpetuate the looting of this country," the secretary-general of the Union for Democracy and Social Progress party, Jean-Marc Kabund, said in a statement.

He called on the Congolese people to mobilize and defend the mineral-rich country's sovereignty.

Ahead of the ruling, hundreds of Tshisekedi's supporters were in the streets of the capital, Kinshasa, waving tree branches and banners reading "Congo for the Congolese." </s> KINSHASA (Reuters) - Losing Democratic Republic of Congo presidential candidate Martin Fayulu said on Friday he would challenge the election results in country’s highest court on Saturday at 9 a.m. (0800 GMT).

The national electoral commission on Thursday declared another opposition leader, Felix Tshisekedi, the winner of the Dec. 30 election, but Fayulu’s campaign says its tallies show that Fayulu won a landslide victory. </s> The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has rebuked the African Union (AU) over its calls to suspend the announcement of the final results of its presidential elections, insisting that the Constitutional Court assessing the vote's legality was impartial.

The court will rule on Friday on an appeal filed by election runner-up Martin Fayulu - who says he was cheated of his victory in the December 30 election.

"The court is independent," government spokesman Lambert Mende said on Friday. "I don't think it is the business of the government or even of the African Union to tell the court what it should do."

At a summit in Addis Ababa, AU leaders announced late on Thursday that the Union would dispatch envoys to Kinshasa in a bid to end the crisis.



AU commission chief Moussa Faki Mahamat and Rwanda's President Paul Kagame, currently the AU chairman, are expected to fly in on Monday.

The summit also said there were "serious doubts" about the vote's provisional results.



They called for the announcement of the final results to be suspended - a matter currently in the hands of the Constitutional Court, which must issue a ruling ahead of the scheduled swearing-in of the next president on Tuesday.



"I don't know if there are countries where people can interfere like that in a legal procedure," said Mende.



"The court will do what is right for showing the truth. We should all trust it."

Appeal

On January 10, the electoral commission declared opposition leader Felix Tshisekedi provisional winner in the vote to choose a successor to outgoing President Joseph Kabila - with 38.57 percent of the vote against Fayulu's 34.8 percent.



But Fayulu denounced the figures as an "electoral coup" forged by Tshisekedi and Kabila, and filed an appeal with the Constitutional Court a day later, claiming to have won 61 percent of the vote.

The Financial Times and other foreign media have reported seeing documents that confirm Fayulu as the winner.



"If the court declares Tshisekedi victor, the risk of isolation would be enormous and untenable for a country positioned right in the middle of the continent," wrote Adeline Van Houtte of the Economist Intelligence Unit on Twitter.



Fayulu's camp hailed the AU appeal for the final result to be put on hold, but Tshisekedi's entourage lashed it as "scandalous".



His lawyer and deputy chief of staff, Peter Kazadi, denounced the AU's appeal as having "no legal basis".



It was, he said, the result of manoeuvering by "a small number of countries", which he did not name, and "shamed the institution" of the AU.

Fears of violence

The dispute has raised fears that the political crisis, which began when Kabila refused to step down at the end of his constitutional term in office two years ago, could turn into a bloodbath.

The vast and chronically unstable country has lived through two regional wars in 1996-1997 and 1998-2003, and the previous two elections, in 2006 and 2011, were marred by bloody clashes.

Since provisional results were released on January 10, at least 34 people have been killed, the United Nations said.

Its rights office in Congo also documented 59 people wounded along with 241 "arbitrary arrests". </s> Democratic Republic of Congo opposition leader Martin Fayulu said Friday he will challenge the official election result at the country’s constitutional court, as one of his campaign aides claimed his candidate had won in a landslide.

Preliminary results announced early Thursday by Congo’s electoral commission said another opposition leader, Felix Tshisekedi, had come first in the Dec. 30 presidential election with 38.6% of the vote. </s> AFP | Opposition candidate Felix Tshisekedi was declared winner of the Democratic Republic of Congo's presidential election

DR Congo's top court on Sunday declared opposition leader Felix Tshisekedi the winner of disputed presidential elections after throwing out a legal challenge by the runner-up.

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Announcing the final results of the long awaited poll, the Constitutional Court said Tshisekedi had won by a simple majority, paving the way for him to take over from longterm leader Joseph Kabila in an official ceremony on Tuesday.

Runner-up Martin Fayulu immediately called on the international community to reject the results, after the court said his appeal was "unfounded".

"I ask the entire international community not to recognise a power that has neither legitimacy nor legal standing to represent the Congolese people," he said of Tshisekedi, declaring himself "the only legitimate president".

Tatiana Carayannis, from the Conflict Prevention and Peace Forum: the election results have 'sowed the seeds for instability'

Tshisekedi's victory was first announced earlier this month based on provisional results by the Independent National Election Commission (CENI) but it was challenged both at home and abroad, with the African Union appealing for the final results to be delayed.

On Sunday, the Consitutional Court said Fayulu had failed to prove any inaccuracies.

"Only the CENI has produced authentic and sincere results," judge Noel Kilomba said.

EU pleads for calm

But the European Union said Sunday that "doubts remain" over the election result.

"As expressed by the AU (African Union) high level consultative meeting on Thursday in Addis, doubts remain regarding the conformity of the result," an EU spokeswoman said.

With fears running high that the poll dispute could plunge the perennially unstable central African nation into fresh turmoil, an EU spokeswoman pleaded nevertheless for all sides to refrain from "any action that could lead to violence".

At the Constitutional Court’s announcement, hundreds of supporters of Tshisekedi had gathered outside the court holding placards saying "No to interference" and "Independent country" as riot police stood nearby.

'Not their business'

The election commission announced on January 10 that Tshisekedi had provisionally won with 38.57 percent of the vote against Fayulu's 34.8 percent.

Fayulu denounced the figures as an "electoral coup" forged by Tshisekedi and Kabila, and filed an appeal with the Constitutional Court.

At a summit on Thursday, AU leaders said there were "serious doubts" about the vote's provisional results and called for the announcement of the final results to be suspended.

'There isn't much the African Union can do'

But DR Congo government spokesman Lambert Mende had snubbed the demand, saying: "I don't think it is the business of the government or even of the African Union to tell the court what it should do."

The AU also announced that its commission chief Moussa Faki Mahamat and Rwanda's President Paul Kagame, currently the AU chairman, were expected to fly to DR Congo on Monday. But following the court decision, the African Union postponed the visit, spokeswoman Ebba Kalondo said on Sunday.

The European Union said it joined the AU in inviting "all the Congolese players to work constructively with this (AU) delegation to find a post-electoral solution which respects the Congolese people's vote".

Appeal

The Financial Times and other foreign media have reported seeing documents that confirm Fayulu as the winner.

"If the court declares Tshisekedi victor, the risk of isolation would be enormous and untenable for a country positioned right in the middle of the continent," Adeline Van Houtte of the Economist Intelligence Unit wrote on Twitter.

Fayulu's camp had hailed the AU appeal for the final result to be put on hold, but Tshisekedi's entourage branded it "scandalous".

The dispute has raised fears that the political crisis that began when Kabila refused to step down at the end of his constitutional term in office two years ago, could turn into a bloodbath.

The vast and chronically unstable country lived through two regional wars in 1996-97 and 1998-2003, and the previous two elections, in 2006 and 2011, were marred by bloody clashes.

The AU has taken the firmest line of all major international bodies with regard to the post-election crisis.

The Southern African Development Community (SADC), a bloc that includes Angola and South Africa, initially called for a recount and a unity government.

But in a later communique, it made no mention of those demands, instead calling on Congolese politicians to "address any electoral grievances in line with the Democratic Republic of Congo's Constitution and relevant electoral laws".

On Sunday though, South Africa congratulated Felix Tshisekedi on becoming president-elect. "President Cyril Ramaphosa has congratulated Mr Felix Tshisekedi Tshilombo," the presidency said in a statement, calling for "all parties and all stakeholders in the DRC to respect the decision of the Constitutional Court".

(FRANCE 24 with AFP and Reuters)
The Constitutional Court of DR Congo rejects an appeal for a vote recount of the 30 December 2018 election by second-place candidate Martin Fayulu, upholding Félix Tshisekedi as the winner.