DRC presidential runner-up Fayulu asks court to cancel result

Martin Fayulu appeals against the result of last month’s
election, claiming he won with 62 percent of the vote.

Martin Fayulu, who came second in the Democratic Republic of the
Congo’s presidential election last month, has appealed to the
country’s Constitutional Court to cancel the provisional
result.

“The request seeks the annulment of the result declaring Felix
Tshisekedi president,” his lawyer Feli Ekombe told reporters
outside the court on Saturday.

Fayulu’s camp has accused the declared winner, opposition
candidate Felix Tshisekedi, of making a secret deal with outgoing
President Joseph Kabila.

“You can’t manufacture results behind closed doors,” Fayulu said
in front of a crowd of his supporters.

“I am hoping that the constitutional court will call the
electoral commission to recount the ballot papers. “They are false,
fabricated, nothing to do with the truth. The truth has to come
from the recount of the ballot paper.”

Tshisekedi’s victory shocked pollsters and was immediately
disputed by the opposition and Western powers.

The influential Catholic Church also rejected the official
result, based on tallies by its 40,000-strong observer team.

“The results as published do not match the data collected by our
own observation mission,” Marcel Utembi, the head of the country’s
National Episcopal Conference of Congo (CENCO) said.

“We have a recommendation: To publish as quickly as possible all
the records and minutes from the counties and the polling stations
to allow candidates to compare”.

‘All eyes on the court’
The DRC has been tense in recent days with rising violence across
the country raising fears of a breakdown of law and order, similar
to the violence that broke out in the central African country after
the 2006 and 2011 elections.

There have been isolated incidents of post-election violence
around the nation of 80 million people, and on Friday, police
confronted opposition protesters in the eastern city of Goma,
killing at least one person.

Al Jazeera’s Haru Mutasa, reporting from DRC capital Kinshasa,
said judges were expected to meet early next week to go over the
supposed evidence that claims Fayulu won the election.

“If the judges feel there is no case they will throw the matter
out. Felix Tshisekedi will be declared the president-elect and will
be sworn in on January 18.

“If that happens, some people fear Fayulu could tell his
supporters to go onto the streets and there could be an of
escalation violence. Not just in Kinshasa, but elsewhere around the
country. So a lot of people are calling on the Congolese people to
remain calm.

“But all eyes will be on the court when they do meet, and a lot
of people will be wondering how independent they are going to
be”.