[ 2011-12-11 ]

Observers say DR Congo vote results 'lack credibility'
KINSHASA (AFP) - The Democratic Republic of
Congo's tense election standoff intensified Sunday
after a team of international observers reported
that incumbent Joseph Kabila's win was so flawed
it lacked credibility.

Kabila, in power since 2001, was on Friday named
the winner of the November 28 poll, but runner-up
Etienne Tshisekedi immediately rejected the result
and declared himself president.

Violent protests and looting erupted in Kinshasa
after the announcement. Police said four people
had died in the unrest Friday and Saturday.

Protests also spilled over to the Congolese
diaspora in London and Brussels.

Election monitors from the Carter Center, a
non-profit organisation founded by former US
president Jimmy Carter, added momentum Saturday to
Tshisekedi's refusal to accept the results, saying
they "lack credibility".

"Multiple locations... reported impossibly high
rates of 99 to 100 percent voter turnout with all,
or nearly all, votes going to incumbent President
Joseph Kabila," the group said in a statement.

"These and other observations point to
mismanagement of the results process and
compromise the integrity of the presidential
election."

The Carter Center said its observers gave a rating
of "poor" to 40 percent of the 169 compilation
centres where results were tabulated.

It reported irregularities including the loss of
nearly 2,000 polling station results in Kinshasa,
a Tshisekedi stronghold, and chaos in the counting
process ranging from ballots piled on the floor
and stepped on to results sheets soaked in a rain
storm then hung on sticks to dry.

The European Union and other international and
local observers have also cited serious problems
with the vote, ranging from disorganisation at
polling stations to ballot box stuffing.

The election commission said Kabila had won 49
percent of the vote to 32 percent for Tshisekedi.

Tshisekedi claimed his party's own count based on
results taken directly from polling centres showed
he had in fact won with 54 percent.

"As a result, I consider myself from this day on
as the elected president," he said.

Government spokesman and Communications Minister
Lambert Mende on Saturday threatened Tshisekedi
with prosecution for the statement, which he
called an "infraction of the law" and an "attack
on the constitution".

"It's an irresponsible act that violates the laws
of the republic," he said. "The public prosecutor
has the authority to take the matter to court."

Exacerbating the volatile atmosphere, national
police chief Charles Bisengimana said security
forces had fatally shot three looters and a woman
had been killed by a stray bullet during the
unrest in the capital.

UN broadcaster Radio Okapi said six had died in
the unrest.

After Kabila's win was declared, protesters in
Kinshasa set cars and tyres alight and threw
stones at police, who responded with tear gas and
shots fired in the air.

A heavy security force presence, including police,
presidential guards and 20,000 soldiers on standby
at military bases, put down the initial protests.

"The situation is totally under control,"
Bisengimana said Saturday. "The hostile protests
have been put down."

Source - AFP

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