Felix Tshisekedi’s presidency win; first undisputed transfer of power in DRC

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Felix Tshisekedi, leader of Congolese main opposition party, the UDPS

Political changes all over the world is attracting attention as currently often news that is surprising to many are hitting the tabloids like election of women in seats heard of for the first time.

The Democratic Republic of Congo has a new incoming president, Felix Tshisekedi , the son of a veteran opposition leader.

He won with just over 7 million votes or 38.6%, according to the national electoral commission. The other strongly favored candidate, Martin Fayulu, a former Exxon Mobil executive, came second with 6.4 million votes.

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Congolese election officials, rejecting independent assessments that a prominent opposition figure was the runaway winner of the recent presidential election, on Thursday bestowed victory on a candidate considered more acceptable to the departing President Joseph Kabila.

The decision dashed hopes that the Democratic Republic of Congo might experience its first undisputed transfer of power by the ballot box since independence six decades ago. And it was unclear how it would sit with the population.

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Joseph Kabila

Still, however malleable the declared winner, Felix Tshisekedi, may seem to Mr. Kabila, he was not his first choice. Mr. Kabila had backed a top aide to succeed him.

The election commission’s early-morning announcement amounted to a startling official admission that Mr. Kabila’s candidate had suffered a defeat so big that his government  in power for 18 years could not simply hand him the presidency without risking widespread violence and international condemnation.

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