Africa

Africa

Presidential candidates call for rerun of election in Congo

21 December 2023 05:20 (UTC +04:00)

Five Congolese opposition presidential candidates have jointly called for a rerun of the country’s general elections, saying a decision by the election commission to extend the ballot was unconstitutional, APA reports citing The Guardian.

After a day plagued by administrative chaos, delays and closed polling stations, electoral authorities said late on Wednesday that voting would continue on the following day in areas where voters could not cast ballots.

But opposition candidates, including the Nobel peace laureate Denis Mukwege and the former oil executive Martin Fayulu, said that the move was illegal and called for a new election.

There had long been fears that the four concurrent polls – to elect a president, along with national and regional lawmakers and local councillors – might turn chaotic in the impoverished but mineral-rich central African nation.