Democratic Republic of Congo opposition leader Martin Fayulu rejected a court ruling Saturday that upheld his defeat in the country’s presidential election, instead declaring himself president-elect.
“I am now considering myself as the sole legitimate President of the Democratic Republic of Congo,” Fayulu said in a statement. “As such, I ask the Congolese people not to recognize any individual who would claim this authority illegitimately nor to obey any orders that would emanate from such a person.”
Fayulu suffered defeat earlier this month when Congo’s electoral commission announced that another opposition leader, Felix Tshisekedi, had won the December 30 vote.
However Fayulu — as well as the country’s Catholic Church — rejected the election results, saying they did not reflect the data collected by observers.
The former oil executive had been widely expected to win the election, which was seen as a test of whether the Central African nation could transition into a democracy.
Fayulu has accused Tshisekedi of colluding with outgoing President Joseph Kabila to influence the votes “against the will of the Congolese people.”
With its decision to uphold Tshisekedi’s election, the constitutional court confirmed that “it is at the service of one individual and of a dictatorial regime that doesn’t respect the laws of the republic nor the most elementary rules of democracy and moral,” Fayulu said in a statement.
Fayulu claims to have won more than 60% of the vote in a “landslide victory” that he said was confirmed by tally sheets and observers.
“It is nothing more than a constitutional coup as (the court) installs a non-elected individual to the highest office,” Fayulu said in the statement.
He asked the international community not to recognize the results and called on the Congolese people to “take its destiny in its hands by organizing peaceful demonstrations across the country” to defend the constitution.