DR Congo’s election commission vows to deliver presidential results before deadline

The electoral umpire in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has renewed its commitment to fulfill a December 31 deadline for the announcement of full provisional presidential results, dismissing opposition calls for a re-run of the disputed vote as the reaction of “bad losers.”

The CENI commission has been critisised for its handling of the December 20 presidential and legislative elections, as well as the vote-counting, which the opposition and independent observers claim jeopardized the integrity of the results.

The poll was marred by logistical issues, malfunction voting equipment, and violent occurrences delayed voting in many areas, causing the electoral commission to extend the vote.

Despite the unscheduled extension, CENI president Denis Kadima confirmed to Reuters news agency that the commission would be releasing full provisional results from the presidential vote on Sunday Dec. 31 as originally planned.

The Commission rejected the call by the opposition for a new vote, saying “they know they lost … they are bad losers.”

The electoral controversy threatens to further unsettle Congo, which is already dealing with widespread poverty and security challenges in the east.

So far, incumbent President, Felix Tshisekedi led the latest CENI preliminary results, which were published on Friday, with more than 72% of the approximately 15.9 million ballots counted thus far.