Congo Republic election candidates say vote marred by fraud By Reuters

By Hereward Holland

BRAZZAVILLE (Reuters) – Supporters of two candidates in Congo Republic’s presidential election mentioned on Wednesday that the ballot was marred by vote-rigging and that the courts ought to annul the end result.

Provisional outcomes on Tuesday confirmed that President Denis Sassou Nguesso was re-elected with greater than 88% of Sunday’s vote, extending his 36-year rule within the Central African nation. [L8N2LL62D]

Mathias Dzon, who got here third, mentioned he’ll file an attraction with the constitutional courtroom on Thursday asking that the election be annulled due to vote rigging. He didn’t present proof of fraud.

The occasion of candidate Man Brice Parfait Kolelas, who died hours after the polls closed, alleged fraud based mostly on vote tally sheets that it shared with Reuters displaying extra votes for the president than voters at three polling stations, and 100% of votes at one other. Reuters was unable to confirm the authenticity of the sheets.

Spokespeople for the federal government, the electoral fee and the constitutional courtroom didn’t reply to requests for remark.

At a information convention, Dzon described the election as “a disastrous vote, rigged and marred by numerous irregularities”.

“I laughed heartily, as a result of for me it was a bad-taste joke,” Dzon mentioned, referring to the provisional outcomes.

Dzon, a former finance minister, received 1.9% of the vote. Kolelas, who was being evacuated to France to be handled for COVID-19 when he died, obtained lower than 8%.

Dzon alleged that the federal government hid the severity of Kolelas’s sickness earlier than the vote to keep away from a postponement within the polls, which is required by regulation when a candidate is incapacitated.

Diplomats and political analysts had anticipated a straightforward victory for Sassou, 77, who has a agency grip on state establishments within the nation of 5.4 million.

The primary opposition occasion boycotted the vote and two of Sassou’s different fundamental rivals have been convicted of crimes after the final election in 2016, ruling them out.