Congo president confirmed

CONGO’S residents headed to church yesterday and the capital was calm after the Constitutional Court confirmed the presidential victory of Felix Tshisekedi and runner-up Martin Fayulu called for non-violent protests against the ruling.

Tshisekedi said the court’s decision to reject claims of electoral fraud and declare him president was a victory for the entire country.

“It is Congo that won,” said Tshisekedi. “It is not the victory of one camp against another. I am engaged in a campaign to reconcile all Congolese… The Congo that we are going to form will not be a Congo of division, hatred or tribalism. It will be a reconciled Congo, a strong Congo that will be focused on development, peace and security.” Supporters of his UDPS party celebrated the victory into the early morning hours, parading through the capital’s streets.

But Fayulu’s declaration that he was Congo’s “only legitimate president” threatened to keep the country in a political crisis that has been simmering since the December 30 elections.

Fayulu’s court challenge alleged an extraordinary backroom deal by outgoing President Joseph Kabila to rig the vote in favour of Tshisekedi.

The court in the early hours of yesterday, however, said Fayulu offered no proof to back his assertions that he had won easily based on leaked data attributed to the electoral commission. It also called unfounded another challenge filed by Fayulu 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.

“I now consider myself the only legitimate president of the DRC,” Fayulu said.

He urged Congolese to take to the streets in the country and to protest peacefully.