DRC election results raise tensions, fears

Discrepancies involving high turnout in some areas and lost ballots in others have raised election monitors’ concerns in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Though the results say that the incumbent, President Joseph Kabila, won the election, opposition candidate Etienne Tshisekedi has used the concerns to declare himself the winner. The DRC Supreme Court is reviewing the results.

The opposition announced plans for peaceful protests, and several nations have called for calm on all sides. There have been outbreaks of violence since the election, but no official death toll has been released. Demonstrations have also broken out in London and Brussels.

For more information, see the articles in AlertNet and Reuters, and the op-ed in the Washington Post.