KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — The Latest on Congo’s presidential election (all times local):
2:30 p.m.
Congo opposition candidate Martin Fayulu asserts he won 61 percent of the presidential vote, citing Catholic Church election observers, and he says he will file a court challenge to the official vote results on Saturday morning.
Fayulu accuses outgoing President Joseph Kabila of making a backroom deal with the declared winner, opposition leader Felix Tshisekedi.
The influential Catholic Church has said its 40,000 election observers found a different winner.
An official with Fayulu’s opposition coalition says Tshisekedi received just 18 percent of the vote, according to the church’s findings.
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2:10 p.m.
Spurned Congo opposition candidate Martin Fayulu says he will challenge the official results of the presidential election by releasing the results of the influential Catholic Church and its 40,000 vote observers, province by province.
Diplomats briefed on the church’s results say they show Fayulu easily won.
Fayulu tells a crowd in the capital, Kinshasa, that his opposition coalition will release its own results as well.
He says that no one can steal what he calls “the people’s victory.”
Fayulu accuses outgoing President Joseph Kabila of making a backroom deal with the declared winner, opposition leader Felix Tshisekedi.
Some Fayulu supporters are singing that “if you don’t proclaim Fayulu, we will kill each other.”
Congo has been largely calm since results were announced early Thursday but some observers warn that a challenge to the results could bring unrest.
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12:45 p.m.
Hundreds of supporters of spurned Congo opposition candidate Martin Fayulu are gathering in the capital to denounce what they call “the people’s stolen victory.”
A heavy police presence is on hand as Fayulu is expected to speak. He accuses outgoing President Joseph Kabila of making a backroom deal with the declared election winner, opposition leader Felix Tshisekedi.
Fayulu has two days from the election announcement early Thursday to file a court challenge. The influential Catholic Church says its 40,000 election observers found a different winner, and diplomats briefed on its findings say Fayulu easily won.
Congolese face the extraordinary situation of an election allegedly rigged in favor of the opposition after Kabila’s ruling party candidate did poorly.
One Fayulu supporter says that “change cannot be negotiated behind closed doors.”