Democratic Republic of Congo court upholds Felix Tshisekedi poll victory

The African Union Commission has congratulated Felix Tshisekedi on his re-election as president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, following confirmation from the country's Constitutional Court for the election results.

"I express my warm congratulations to His Excellency Felix Tshisekedi on his re-election as president of the Democratic Republic of Congo following the announcement final results made public on January 9, 2024 by the Constitutional Court, I wish to renew the African Union's commitment to supporting the Democratic Republic of Congo in the consolidation of its democracy," Moussa Faki Mahamat, the chairperson of the African Union Commission, said on Wednesday.

He also welcomed the political maturity of the Congolese people as well as the peaceful conduct of the vote. He urged African countries to favor legal channels in order to resolve any possible election disputes.

On Tuesday the Constitutional Court in the DRC confirmed Tshisekedi's landslide victory for a second term in office in the central African nation's presidential elections held in December.

The court rejected two legal challenges to the provisional results of the contested presidential, legislative, regional and local elections. Nine opposition leaders signed a declaration pronouncing the polls, in which Tshisekedi got 73.47 percent of the vote, a sham and called for a re-run.

The opposition said the poll was marred by widespread logistical problems, which it claimed were part of a deliberate plan to rig the results in favour of Tshisekedi.

However, the ruling by the Constitutional Court stated that the reported irregularities could not have impacted election results because there was such a big gap between the incumbent and the runner-up Moise Katumbi who won around 18 percent of votes.

More than 40 million people out of the 100 million inhabitants of the vast central African country were registered to vote on December 20 for president, as well as for national and regional lawmakers.

Wu Peng, director-general, department of African affairs at China's Foreign Ministry also joined other leaders in congratulating Tshisekedi for his reelection as the president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Wu said China stands ready to work with DRC to strengthen the traditional friendship and deepen bilateral cooperation under Belt and Road Initiative and the Forum on China–Africa Cooperation.