President Félix Tshisekedi has been declared winner of the election in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has been condemned by some opposition candidates as “sham” in demanding a new vote.
Officials said the president won about 73% of the vote, while his closest rival, Moise Katumbi, received 18%. The December 20 election was marred by many logistical problems.
It had to extend into a second day in some parts of the vast country.
According to one monitoring group, about two-thirds of polling stations opened late, while 30% of voting machines did not work on the first day of voting.
Millions of people waited hours to vote, while some gave up and went home.
The opposition says the issues are part of a deliberate plan to rig the outcome in favor of 60-year-old Tshisekedi. Some main opponents called for protests after Sunday’s announcement.
“We call on our people to take to the streets en masse following claims of election fraud,” they said in a joint statement.
The army was deployed to different areas of the capital Kinshasa to prevent chaos, while Mr Tshisekedi’s supporters took to the streets to celebrate.
The head of the election commission earlier said opposition candidates wanted new elections because they “know they have lost. they are big losers”.
Election head Denis Kadima admitted some irregularities but insisted the results reflected the will of the Congolese people.
President Tshisekedi will be sworn in for a second term on January 20. Son of former opposition fighter Étienne Tshisekedi, the president was first elected in 2019. It followed a vote in which some observers, including the influential Catholic Church, said former oil executive Martin Fayulu had won.
He ranked third in this election with 5% of the votes. None of the remaining 16 candidates received more than 1% of the vote. Mr Kadima said voter turnout was about 43% of the 41 million registered voters.
It is unclear whether any of the 18 opposition candidates will challenge the results in court. Mr Katumbi has said it is not worth it because the courts are not independent.
The Constitutional Court has 10 days to hear possible legal challenges before announcing the final results on January 10, 2024.
The DRC is about four times the size of France but lacks basic infrastructure. Even some of its main cities are not connected by road.
About two-thirds of the country’s 100 million people live below the poverty line, earning $2. 15 a day or less. Voters also choose congressional, provincial and city representatives, with a total of about 100,000 candidates.
During the election campaign, Mr. Tshisekedi repeatedly attacked Rwandan President Paul Kagame, whom he accused of supporting the M23 rebel group that is occupying territory in the east of the country.
Rwanda has repeatedly denied these accusations. At his last election campaign, Mr. Tshisekedi pledged to declare war on Rwanda, although observers dismissed the declaration as rhetoric aimed at stoking nationalist sentiment.
Elections have not been held in the country’s eastern regions due to fighting that has plagued the region for three decades.
Some seven million people have been forced from their homes, more than in any other country except Sudan.
Dozens of armed groups are fighting for control of areas in the region, where most of the country’s vast mineral resources are located.
This includes huge reserves of cobalt, the key element in many lithium batteries, considered essential for a future free of fossil fuels.