• About Us
  • Who Are We
  • Work With Us
Sunday, June 4, 2023
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Globe Post
39 °f
New York
44 ° Fri
46 ° Sat
40 ° Sun
41 ° Mon
No Result
View All Result
The Globe Post
No Result
View All Result
Home Democracy at Risk

DRC Opposition Chief Wins Vote as Rival, Church Cry Foul

Staff Writer by Staff Writer
01/10/19
in Democracy at Risk, World
A protest in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo

Demonstrators at a meeting on September 15, 2015 organized by opposition party leaders in Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, to call on President Joseph Kabila to step down at the end of his constitutionally mandated two-term limit. Photo: Human Rights Watch

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

In a pre-dawn announcement, opposition leader Felix Tshisekedi was on Thursday declared winner of The Democratic Republic of Congo’s highly contentious presidential election.

His victory, however, was dismissed by the runner-up and questioned by the country’s powerful Catholic church, clouding the vote’s legitimacy and hopes of peace.

Election officials named Tshisekedi, son of the country’s long-term opposition leader, provisional winner of the troubled vote to replace President Joseph Kabila.

The vast central African country has been increasingly on edge over the long-delayed vote.

The news brought thousands of supporters onto the streets while others who had backed his opposition rival Martin Fayulu came out in protest. Four people died in the unrest.

Fayulu, who came a close second, denounced the result as an “electoral coup.” The country’s influential Catholic church also said Tshisekedi’s victory did not tally with data collected by its own monitors.

“These results have nothing to do with the truth at the ballot box,” Fayulu told Radio France International.

“They have stolen the Congolese people’s victory and the people will never accept that.”


High Stakes

At stake is political stewardship of the notoriously unstable central African nation, which has never known a peaceful transition of power since gaining independence from Belgium in 1960.

Election chief Corneille Nangaa declared Tshisekedi the winner with 38.57 percent of the vote, just ahead of Fayulu with 34.8 percent.

Kabila’s preferred successor, Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, came a distant third with 23.8 percent.

The announcement of an opposition win was a shock as many had expected the results to be stacked in Shadary’s favor, prompting heavy international pressure on Kinshasa to respect the wishes of the electorate.

The last two elections in 2006 and 2011, both of which were won by Kabila, were marred by bloodshed, and many fear a repeat of the violence if the result lacks credibility.

Two civilians and two policemen were killed Thursday and another 10 people injured when a protest erupted in the western city of Kikwit, a Fayulu stronghold, police said.


Wild Celebrations 

In Kinshasa, thousands of people converged upon the headquarters of Tshisekedi’s Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS), the country’s oldest and largest opposition party, singing and dancing at his surprise victory.

Pouring onto the streets, they celebrated wildly, cheering and honking car horns in scenes of joy that lasted into the morning under the bemused eye of the security forces who had fanned out across the capital.

In his first remarks after the result, the portly 55-year-old, who has never held high office or even a managerial role, immediately pledged to work closely with Kabila.

Celebrations by the Congolese community in Yeoville, Joburg #DRC. Credit: a friend pic.twitter.com/f7nRVkze4c

— carien du plessis (@carienduplessis) January 10, 2019

“Today we should no longer see him as an adversary, but rather as a partner for democratic change in our country,” he told supporters.

But elsewhere in Kinshasa, the mood was somber, with representatives of the Catholic church openly disputing the figures released by the Independent National Election Commission (CENI).

“The result of the presidential election as published by CENI does not correspond with the data collected by our observer mission from polling stations and counting centers,” said Father Donatien Nshole, spokesman for CENCO, which represents the country’s Catholic bishops.

The Church has long been pressing for the departure of Kabila, who has ruled the country with an iron fist since 2001, well beyond the limit of his second and final term in December 2016.


Calls for Calm 

Abroad, the mood was watchful, marked by a noticeable lack of congratulations for Tshisekedi.

Many have eyed the developments in sub-Saharan Africa’s largest country with concern, with the United Nations leading calls to avoid violence.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian dismissed Tshisekedi’s victory as “not consistent” with the actual results, indicating that Fayulu had won.

The African Union said it “took note” of the result and warned any dispute over the outcome should be “resolved peacefully.”

VIDEO: Congolese citizens arrive to cast their vote as polling stations open in Kinshasa pic.twitter.com/bH3mvXd136

— AFP news agency (@AFP) December 30, 2018

The European Union also simply acknowledged the result – as well as Fayulu’s objections to it. It said it was awaiting clarification from international observers and urged all sides to refrain from violence.

In contrast, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa urged “all regional and international interested parties to refrain from speculation” and let the election board complete its work.


‘Tshisekedi debt to Kabila’ 

Kabila had been due to step down two years ago but held on to power, sparking a political crisis and protests that were bloodily repressed.

“Kabila did not want to risk announcing Shadary as the winner, which would have triggered violent protests and international condemnation,” said Robert Besseling, executive director of risk consultancy EXX Africa.

“Instead, he chose to split the opposition by creating a power-sharing deal with Tshisekedi.”

Tshisekedi “owes his ascendancy to power to Kabila’s control of the electoral commission,” and in exchange Kabila would look for immunity from any prosecution or asset seizure after handing over power, Besseling said.


More on the Subject

As the country awaited the results of the election, authorities restricted internet access, blocked French public-service broadcaster Radio France Internationale and forced its correspondent out of the country.

“This being a very sensitive, very tense period, we are concerned that these efforts to silence dissent could backfire considerably when the results are announced,” a spokeswoman for the United Nations Human Rights office, Ravina Shamdasani, told reporters in Geneva.

Crackdown on Dissent in Tense DRC Could ‘Backfire’: UN

Share4Tweet
Staff Writer

Staff Writer

AFP with The Globe Post

Related Posts

Pro-choice activists celebrate after the Senate approved a bill to legalize abortion outside the Congress in Buenos Aires on December 30.
World

Argentines Celebrate as Senate Passes Landmark Abortion Bill

by Staff Writer
December 30, 2020
Approximately 11 million girls will be unable to go back to school around the world.
World

11 Mn Girls Won’t Return to School After Covid: UNESCO

by Staff Writer
October 15, 2020
Shadows of a men sexually assaulting a women
Opinion

US Needs Predator Database to Effectively Fight Child Sex Trafficking

by Lori Handrahan
September 3, 2019
Doctors with an Ebola patient
Featured

DR Congo Ebola Death Toll Exceeds 1,600 Mark

by Staff Writer
July 5, 2019
Jerusalem Pope Francis refugees Christmas
Featured

Pope Vows ‘All-Out Battle’ Saying Child Sex Abuse Like ‘Human Sacrifice’

by Staff Writer
February 24, 2019
Pope Francis appointed Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago (pictured) to be part of the organizing committee for the Vatican's global bishops meeting to address clerical sexual abuse taking place in February
Opinion

Catholic Bishops Still Don’t Get It

by Timothy D. Lytton
January 1, 2019
Next Post
Iraqis at a local market in Mosul

By Necessity or Design, Iraqi Women Launch Mosul Firms

US President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference at the White House in Washington

Federal Workers March on White House Demanding End to Shutdown

Recommended

A man holds US, Taiwan flags

US and Taiwan Ink Trade Deal as China Issues Warning

June 2, 2023
Migrants waiting at the Turkish border.

Beyond Numbers: Confronting Europe’s Broken Border System

May 30, 2023
A noose is seen on makeshift gallows as supporters of US President Donald Trump gather on the West side of the US Capitol in Washington DC on January 6, 2021

Militia Leader Gets 18 Years in Prison Over US Capitol Attack

May 26, 2023
Customers queue to enter a re-opened Zara clothes shop

EU Targets Fast Fashion in Push for Durable Goods

May 23, 2023
A billboard showing the debt limit is seen in Washington, D.C.

US Republicans Upbeat on Prospects for Debt Deal

May 19, 2023
Military hardware rolls through Dvortsovaya Square during a Victory Day military parade in central Saint Petersburg

Pressing Russia, US Shares Nuclear Warhead Data Under Treaty

May 16, 2023

Opinion

Migrants waiting at the Turkish border.

Beyond Numbers: Confronting Europe’s Broken Border System

May 30, 2023
A man holding a gun

The NRA’s Continuing Agenda of Fear

May 12, 2023
US Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas

A Supreme Folly 

April 24, 2023
Transgender Army veteran Tanya Walker speaks to protesters in Times Square near a military recruitment centre

Tennessee Is A Drag on the First Amendment

March 26, 2023
Chinese President Xi Jinping

China’s Path to Economic Dominance

March 15, 2023
An earthquake survivor reacts as rescuers look for victims and other survivors in Hatay, a Turkish province where hundreds of buildings were destroyed by the earthquake

Heed the Call of Our Broken World

March 1, 2023
Facebook Twitter

Newsletter

Do you like our reporting?
SUBSCRIBE

About Us

The Globe Post

The Globe Post is part of Globe Post Media, a U.S. digital news organization that is publishing the world's best targeted news sites.

submit oped

© 2018 The Globe Post

No Result
View All Result
  • National
  • World
  • Business
  • Interviews
  • Lifestyle
  • Democracy at Risk
    • Media Freedom
  • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Columns
    • Book Reviews
    • Stage
  • Submit Op-ed

© 2018 The Globe Post