Bishop: DRC poll results wrong, unfair
2011-12-12 18:01
Kinshasa - The Catholic archbishop of Kinshasa on Monday condemned election results handing Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila a new five-year term after polls that were sharply criticised by observers.
"The results announced by the CENI (Independent National Electoral Commission) on December 9 comply with neither truth nor justice," Cardinal Laurent Monsengwo told journalists.
The CENI said Friday that Kabila had won the polls with 49% of the vote. Runner-up Etienne Tshisekedi, who took 32%, rejected the result and declared himself president.
International election monitors from the Carter Centre, a non-profit group founded by former US president Jimmy Carter, said the counting process was so flawed the result lacked credibility.
Monsengwo appealed to Tshisekedi and the other 10 defeated presidential candidates to take their grievances to the supreme court, a move Tshisekedi has rejected.
The archbishop called on the court, which is charged with hearing election disputes and declaring the official winner on December 17, to act impartially.
The court "is called by all Congolese people to say what is really right", he said.
