African Union urges delay to final Congo election result
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The African Union has called on the Democratic Republic of Congo to suspend the release of the final results of its disputed presidential election due to its doubts over the provisional results.

The rare move from the group injects fresh uncertainty into the post-election process, which was meant to usher in the country’s first democratic transfer of power in 59 years of independence, but has been mired in controversy since the December 30th vote.

The final tally is scheduled to be released by the election commission once the constitutional court has ruled on challenges to the provisional results on Friday, but the union called for this to be postponed following a meeting in Addis Ababa.

“The Heads of State and Government attending the meeting concluded that there were serious doubts on the conformity of the provisional results as proclaimed by the National Independent Electoral Commission, with the verdict of the ballot boxes,” it said in a statement on Thursday night.

A Western diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the decision was unprecedented. “I cannot remember another instance where the AU called for a suspension of certification of results.”

The Congolese foreign ministry declined to comment on the union’s statement and the office of President Joseph Kabila could not immediately be reached.

Opposition leader and election runner-up Martin Fayulu has requested the recount, claiming he won by a landslide and that the victory of another opposition figure, Felix Tshisekedi, was engineered by the authorities. Election officials deny the results were rigged.