CHAOS FEARED AS OPPONENT, OBSERVERS QUESTION VOTE

KINSHASA, CONGO Congo appeared ready to achieve its first peaceful transfer of power with the surprise victory Thursday of opposition candidate Felix Tshisekedi, pictured, despite clear signs that a rival opposition leader actually won in a landslide.

With no major protests in the capital and limited violence elsewhere in the vast Central African country, the population seemed to be choosing stability over credibility, accepting Tshisekedi’s win and the end to President Joseph Kabila’s long and turbulent rule.

But a court challenge to the results could spin the country into chaos, observers warned.

The influential Catholic Church, which deployed 40,000 observers at all polling stations, said official results did not match its findings, and diplomats briefed on them said rival opposition candidate Martin Fayulu won easily.

Fayulu alleges that Kabila engineered a backroom deal with the largely untested Tshisekedi to protect his power base in a country with staggering mineral wealth.

An outspoken campaigner against Congo’s widespread graft — it ranked 161th among 180 countries in Transparency International’s latest index — Fayulu denounced the official results as “robbery.”

He called on people to “rise as one man to protect victory.”

As night fell, scores of police with automatic rifles and tear gas launchers were positioned along a road in Kinshasa leading to the Kingabwa neighbourhood, a Fayulu stronghold.

One vehicle was filled with military personnel in combat gear.