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Of the 12.5 million votes counted by the electoral commission (Céni), 60-year-old Félix Tshisekedi, who is seeking a second five-year term, obtained 9.5 million
A sweeping victory for incumbent President Félix Tshisekedi in the December 20-21 elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo seemed to be a foregone conclusion as partial results became increasingly consistent, officially giving him 76% of the vote.
Of the 12.5 million votes counted by the electoral commission (Céni), 60-year-old Félix Tshisekedi, who is seeking a second five-year term, obtained 9.5 million. He was followed by businessman and former governor of Katanga (south-east) Moïse Katumbi (16.5%) and another opponent, Martin Fayulu (4.4%). The twenty or so other candidates on the ballot, including Nobel Peace Prize winner Denis Mukwege, failed to reach 1%.
Nearly 44 million voters, out of a total population of around 100 million, were called to the polls. The Céni did not establish a turnout figure, but Congolese media had already calculated that the incumbent president could no longer be overtaken by his opponents, and ran the headline: “Félix Tshisekedi re-elected”.
However, no official statement was made on Thursday evening. The Céni’s long-established timetable calls for the publication of the full provisional results of the single-round presidential election on December 31. The Constitutional Court is due to have the final say in January. The quadruple ballot was scheduled for December 20 but continued for a few more days, inviting criticisms from a cross-section of people.
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Tensions are feared when the results are announced. DRC has a turbulent and often violent political history, whose subsoil is immensely rich in minerals but whose population is predominantly poor.
