DR Congo: opposition leader Martin Fayulu rejects court ruling and declares himself president-elect

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"I now consider myself the only legitimate president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo," Fayulu said in a statement. "As such, I ask the Congolese people not to recognize any person who claims this authority illegitimately or to obey orders from such a person."

Fayulu was beaten earlier this month when the Congo Election Commission announced that another opposition leader, Felix Tshisekedi, won the vote on Dec. 30.

However, Fayulu – along with the country's Catholic Church – rejected election results, saying they did not reflect data collected by observers.

The former head of the oil sector was supposed to win the election, which was seen as a test of whether the Central African country could move to democracy.

Fayulu calls for "peaceful protests"

Fayulu accused Tshisekedi of collaborating with incumbent President Joseph Kabila to influence the votes "against the will of the Congolese people".

In deciding to uphold the election of Tshisekedi, the Constitutional Court confirmed that "it is in the service of an individual and a dictatorial regime that respects neither the laws of the republic. nor the most basic rules of democracy and morality, "said Fayulu. in a report.

Fayulu claims to have won more than 60 percent of the vote in an "overwhelming victory" which, he said, was confirmed by counting sheets and observers.

"This is nothing more than a constitutional blow since (the court) is installing an unelected person at the highest position," Fayulu said in a statement.

He called on the international community not to recognize the results and called on the Congolese people to "take control of their destiny by organizing peaceful protests throughout the country" to defend the Constitution.

Catholic bishops and the United States demand accurate election results

African Union challenges election results

The African Union said it had "serious doubts" about the election results and would send a team to work on "a way out of the post-election crisis in the country".
African Union calls for suspension of announcement of election results in DR Congo
"The heads of state and government present at the meeting concluded with serious doubts as to the conformity of the provisional results proclaimed by the National Independent Electoral Commission with the verdict of the polls," said the group in a statement.

At the same time, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) urged the international community to respect the country's autonomy.

Democracy in the DRC

The December vote was aimed at electing the successor to Kabila, who has been president since 2001.

Felix Tshisekedi, leader of the competition, wins a surprise victory
Under the Congo Constitution, a president can only serve two terms. Kabila's second term expired in 2016, meaning elections were long overdue.

Twenty-one candidates, including the former Interior Minister, Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, have entered the race for the presidency.

Of the opposition candidates, only Fayulu and Tshisekedi were considered to have a serious chance of defeating Shadary.

The vote arrived at a difficult moment. Eastern Congo is fighting the worst Ebola outbreak in the country and violent protests erupted after the announcement by the Independent National Electoral Commission that voters in the cities of Beni and Butembo, hit by the Ebola virus, would not vote until March for security reasons. the reasons. Yumbi also had elections postponed in March due to the violence. It is now unclear how these late votes could affect the outcome.

If considered legitimate, this election would constitute the first democratic transition of the country since its accession to the independence of Belgium in 1960.

Hamdi Alkshali, Stephanie Busari and Bukola Adebayo of CNN contributed to this report.

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