Congolese President Sassou-Nguesso to take oath for fourth term
Following the March 21 election, supporters of two candidates said that the poll was marred by fraud and that the courts should declare the results invalid.
CAPE TOWN, April 8 (ANA) – The Republic of Congo’s President Denis Sassou-Nguesso is expected to take the oath in the coming days for his fourth term as leader of the country after the constitutional court’s vote confirmation.
Head of the court Auguste Iloki was quoted by news agency Anadolu as saying that the constitutional court made the necessary rectifications and adjustments, and Sassou-Nguesso was declared elected with 88.4% of the vote.
He added that the appeals filed by opposition members were deemed “inadmissible” and “unfounded”.
Following the March 21 election, supporters of two candidates said that the poll was marred by election fraud and that the courts should declare the results invalid, according to Radio France Internationale (RFI).
The results of the vote were announced by Interior Minister Raymond Zephirin Mboulou, declaring Sassou-Nguesso as the winner, further extending his 36 cumulative years in office, according to TRT World, a Turkish state-owned news channel.
The official results showed that Sassou-Nguesso won by 88.4% of ballots cast, while Guy-Brice Parfait Kolelas, Congo’s main presidential opposition candidate, whose death was announced a day after the election, won 7.8%. The remaining ballots were split among the other contenders.
The 60-year-old Kolelas died of Covid-19-related complications as he was being flown to France for treatment, his campaign director said.
The 77-year-old Sassou-Nguesso, who came to power in a coup in 1979, faced off against seven other candidates, including Kolelas, a former minister who became an opposition politician, and 73-year-old former finance minister Mathias Dzon.
Dzon, who came third with 1.9% of the vote, said he planned to appeal to Congo’s constitutional court to cancel the official results, citing an article of the constitution “which provides for the cancellation of the ballot when a candidate dies or is unable to vote”.
He said he would file an appeal with the constitutional court asking that the election be annulled because of vote rigging, RFI reported.
However, the head of the national independent electoral commission said that the article in question did not apply this time, TRT World reported.
The voter turnout was 67.55% out of some 2.5 million eligible voters, according to Anadolu.
Meanwhile, the African Union’s election observation mission dispatched to the Republic of Congo noted a number of irregularities in the electoral process.
– African News Agency (ANA); Editing by Yaron Blecher
