2024-01-14 10:40:45
The National Electoral Commission of the Democratic Republic of Congo on Sunday gave the preliminary results of the December legislative elections. The UDPS party of President Félix Tshisekedi won 69 seats, allowing him, with the seats won by allied parties, to maintain his coalition in power.
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The party of the President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Félix Tshisekedi, was declared the winner of the December legislative elections, preliminary results showed on Sunday January 14. The re-election of Félix Tshisekedi was confirmed on Tuesday by the Constitutional Court.
A quadruple vote – presidential, legislative, provincial and local – was organized on December 20 but was spread over several days, due to numerous logistical problems. More than 40 million voters, out of a total of around 100 million inhabitants, were called to the polls.
The Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS) won 69 of the 500 seats – compared to 35 in the 2018 elections –, according to the electoral commission (Céni). A result which might allow Félix Tshisekedi to maintain the coalition in power by giving him the majority necessary to appoint a new government.
The main opposition party “Together for the Republic” of Moïse Katumbi, which came second in the presidential election, obtained less than 20 seats.
The PPRD (People’s Party for Reconstruction and Democracy), the party of former President Joseph Kabila, obtained no seats, its executives having decided to boycott the elections. They were the majority in parliament during the first years of Félix Tshisekedi’s first term, before a spectacular turnaround by pro-Kabila deputies at the end of 2020.
Martin Fayulu’s Ecidé party did not obtain any seats either. The opponent had asked members of his party not to run.
The “Alliance of the Congolese for the Refoundation of the Nation” (ACRN) of Nobel Prize winner Denis Mukwege will not be represented in the future National Assembly, his party not having reached the necessary vote threshold.
A disrupted election
Two weeks following the December 20 election, the CENI canceled the votes for 82 candidates, including three central government ministers and four provincial governors. She justified these cancellations by acts of vandalism, intimidation of voters and the illegal use of voting machines in many constituencies.
Read alsoDR Congo: Tshisekedi’s election confirmed, the opposition sticks to its positions
On Thursday, the European Union declared “(take) note” of the announcement of the results of the presidential election, without congratulating Félix Tshisekedi, contrary to the messages of encouragement sent by France and Belgium.
In its statement, the EU regretted the “lack of communication on key aspects of the electoral process” and “(called on) the competent authorities to investigate (…) all concerns expressed regarding non-compliance with procedures of the electoral law and the allegations of fraud and violence.”
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