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NAIROBI – In an unprecedented move, the African Union called on the Congolese government to suspend the proclamation of the final results of the December 30 elections in the country, saying it had "serious doubts" as to their veracity.
The continental body has also sent an urgent delegation to the Congolese capital, Kinshasa, to meet with election officials.
The African Union's usually cautious reprimand comes from growing evidence that Congo's electoral commission has committed mbadive voter fraud in last week's interim declaration. The Independent National Electoral Commission, known as CENI, has declared the opposition candidate, Felix Tshisekedi, winner with more than 38% of the vote.
Leakage of data from the INEC and the National Bishops' Conference of Congo – the largest election observation mission, led by the Catholic Church and known as Cenco – foreshadow d & rsquo; A dazzling victory for another opposition candidate, Martin Fayulu.
Tshisekedi and the ruling party's candidate, Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, have failed to break the 20% mark, according to the data disclosed.
Fayulu has contested the provisional results before the Constitutional Court of Congo in a case that should be resolved on Saturday. The African Union statement appears to have been chosen at the time to pressure the court and suggest that it delay its decision.
If the court rejected Fayulu's claims, which relied on the disclosed data, Tshisekedi would be appointed president within 10 days. If the judges stand on the side of Fayulu, they could order either a recount or a new election, which is a difficult task in a country that has trouble organizing the December elections, even with years to prepare.
The Congolese government responded to the African Union statement on Friday afternoon, rejecting further delays in announcing the results. Spokesman Lambert Mende told reporters that "the independence of our judicial system is not a problem," but that "we will not refuse contact with other members of the African Union ".
The Tshisekedi camp promised to publish its own poll data, but not until Sunday, after the announcement of the court's decision.
[Opposition candidate Felix Tshisekedi declared winner of Congo’s election]
The December elections were considered historic because they represented Congo's first chance for a peaceful and democratic transfer of power. Joseph Kabila, accused of large-scale corruption, also reportedly ended his 18-year rule.
Up to now, the country has remained more peaceful than expected – despite sparse and deadly clashes between opposition supporters and state security forces. However, the numerous reports of voter irregularities and intimidation, as well as the data disclosed and the ongoing court challenge, have raised major doubts about the democratic integrity of the elections.
The Congolese government shut down Internet connections and text messaging services across the country for three weeks – since the day after polls – to prevent the sharing of false results.
Many opposition members have accused the government of maintaining the closure for an opposite purpose – suppressing a reaction to its own manipulation of the election in favor of Tshisekedi after it became apparent that his candidate Shadary lacked support.
"We reiterate our call for a recount. We thank the African Union for its sustained efforts for truth and justice in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, "Fayulu said. his Twitter account.
The announcement of the African Union is very different from that of the smaller Southern Africa Development Community, which arrived earlier in the day.
"We believe that the situation in the DRC has been well managed and that international constitutional processes are ongoing," said SADC. "Any electoral grievance must be dealt with in accordance with the DRC constitution and relevant election laws."
The African Union declaration was particularly surprising because it was issued after a meeting of African leaders, many of whom have been in power for decades and openly suppress democracy in their countries. The meeting at the beginning of this announcement was chaired by Rwandan President Paul Kagame and included Yoweri Museveni (Uganda), Idriss Déby (Chad) and Denis Sbadou-Nguesso (Republic of Congo). These four leaders combined have held power for over 100 years.
"The African Union traditionally yields to the subregion. But here he has virtually contradicted the much weaker position of SADC, intervening in a Member State's electoral dispute, "said Jason Stearns, director of the Congo Research Group of the Center on International Cooperation, a think tank based in New York University.
The Stearns group has released the leaked data, as well as many Western publications such as the Financial Times and Radio France International. Congolese media outlets then carried out data checks.
The data was obtained from the whistleblowers of the CENI, Cenco and Fayulu campaigns. The CENI data accounted for 86% of the counted votes and Cenco's data for 43%.
Stearns stated that it was "extremely improbable" that the data disclosed was false, as the separate datasets were almost identical and coordination between Cenco's observers and the Fayulu campaign should have taken place "without anyone do not know about the scheme. "
The Catholic Church of Congo is traditionally aligned with the opposition.
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