Democratic Republic of Congo’s electoral commission has announced the opposition candidate Felix Tshisekedi the winner of the tightly contested presidential election with a total of seven million votes.
The provisional result puts him ahead of rival opposition candidate, Martin Fayulu who pulled six point-four-million votes but has denounced it as a fraud.
If confirmed, Mr. Tshisekedi will be the first opposition challenger to win since the DR Congo gained independence.
The election outcome was initially expected to be announced on Sunday. The interim result can still be challenged.
Mr. Tshisekedi, who is the son of late veteran opposition leader, Etienne Tshisekedi, told supporters at his Union for Democracy and Social Progress party headquarters in Kinshasa that Mr. Kabila should no longer be seen as a rival.
Mr. Tshisekedi has promised to make the fight against poverty his priority. The current President, Joseph Kabila who will be is stepping down after eighteen years in office, took over from his assassinated father, Laurent in 2001, elected in 2006, and later secured another term in controversial elections in 2011.
He was barred from running for another term under the constitution, and was supposed to step down two years ago, but the election was postponed after the electoral commission said it needed more time to register voters.
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