Opposition candidate Tshisekedi wins DR Congo's presidential election

KINSHASA - Opposition candidate Felix Tshisekedi has won the presidential election in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), according to interim results proclaimed early Thursday morning by the electoral commission.

According to the electoral commission, Tshisekedi, candidate of the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS), has collected more than 7 million votes across the country, with the exception of three cities where polls were not conducted for safety reasons.

Tshisekedi ran ahead of Martin Fayulu of the "Lamuka" coalition, and far ahead of Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, candidate for the ruling coalition.

The runner-up Fayulu denounced the results as an "electoral coup" on Thursday in an interview with Radio France International.

"These results have nothing to do with the truth at the ballot box," said Fayulu. "It's a real electoral coup, it's incomprehensible."

The final results will be proclaimed in the coming days according to a new timetable after confirmation of these provisional results by the Constitutional Court in accordance with the DRC's national law.

Tshisekedi took over the UDPS presidency from his late father Etienne Tshisekedi, the first opposition leader in the DRC's history.

The DRC held presidential election on Dec 30, 2018 and the results were scheduled to be announced on Jan 6. But the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) put off announcing the results due to problems with collecting data.