The Democratic Republic of Congo's election commission announced that it has invalidated votes cast for 82 out of the 101,000 legislative candidates in the highly disputed December general election. The cancellations come amidst fresh demands from the opposition for a re-run of the vote. Those disqualified include candidates for national, provincial, and municipal assemblies, with results yet to be published. This move adds to the turmoil surrounding the December 20th poll, which could further destabilize the country that is a major cobalt producer and Africa's second-largest nation.
Although the election committee statement did not address the presidential vote that took place on the same day, handing President Felix Tshisekedi a significant victory, the opposition has vehemently contested the results. They have raised concerns over alleged widespread electoral irregularities reported by their own and independent monitors. Despite this, the commission stated that it launched an inquiry post-election to address "acts of violence, vandalism, and sabotage" against voters, staff, and electoral materials.
As a result of the inquiry, 82 legislative candidate candidacies have been invalidated, and elections in two out of the 484 constituencies have been altogether annulled. Additionally, 16 candidates were already excluded from the election due to local security issues. Notably, among the 82 excluded candidates are four acting provincial governors and three government ministers.
However, the commission's actions have failed to appease the opposition, which accuses the commission of favoring Tshisekedi and influencing the election results. Opposition leader Martin Fayulu reiterated the demand for the annulment of the vote and a complete redo. He called on the African Union or the Southern African Development Community to intervene and address the issues at hand. Fayulu urged his supporters to resist the alleged fraud but did not explicitly call for more street protests.
The government and the election commission have insisted that the recent election was free and fair despite various irregularities, including polling stations failing to open on election day, incidences of violence, malfunctioning voting machines, and other setbacks that resulted in an unexpected extension of the voting period. The main observer mission has questioned the legal basis for this extension and raised concerns over the integrity of the election process.
Tresor Kibangula, a political analyst at Congo's Ebuteli research institute, raised doubts about the integrity of the presidential election, given the widespread irregularities observed throughout the country in the legislative elections. Kibangula highlighted the need to assess whether Tshisekedi's proclaimed victory was influenced by these irregularities, considering both elections were conducted on the same day using the same electronic voting system. The extent of this alleged distortion remains a central question that needs to be addressed.