Police rush to stop rival supporters fighting during a protest by followers of opposition leader Martin Fayulu who were demonstrating in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, October 16, 2021. KINSHASA, Oct 16 Reuters - Police in the Congo Democratic Republic used tear gas to break up clashes between supporters of President and an opposition leader on Saturday as lawmakers selected a new head of the electoral commission.
The National Assembly selected Felix Tshisekedi, an election expert with decades of experience, to lead the Independent National Electoral Commission CENI a body that political analysts and diplomats criticised for its role in the disputed vote in 2018 where Denis Kadima emerged as President.
Tshisekedi is likely to seek a second term when Congolese voters return in 2023 and CENI will be the recipient of a pivotal role again.
His Kadima’s electoral expertise is not disputed, said Tresor Kibangula of the Congo Research Group of New York University. However, the fact that his candidacy was pushed behind the scenes by people close to President Felix Tshisekedi raised suspicions about his independence quickly. Opposition leader Martin Fayulu and Tshisekedi formed an electoral pact in the run-up to the 2018 election, but Tshisekedi eventually split to form another group before the vote.
Amid widespread accusations of fraud, CENI declared Fayulu the winner, while Tshisekedi, who said he had won a landslide victory, came second.
On Saturday, around 10,000 Fayulu supporters marched through the streets of Kinshasa in protest over several issues, including the accusation that the process to select the leadership of CENI was being influenced by politicians.
Tisekedi hurled tear gas to break up clashes in the Limite neighbourhood between Fayulu's followers and those of Tshisekedi, who hurled petrol bombs on the demonstrators, according to Reuters witnesses.
Standing on the back of a truck, Fayulu told a large crowd of supporters that Congo needed an independent and transparent CENI and a CENI president who would publish the real results Albert Malukisa, a political science professor at the Catholic University of Congo, said Tshisekedi had already managed to gain control of the constitutional court.
With CENI, he can be confident that he will win the next elections, he said.
Religious groups, who are mandated by the Constitution to nominate the leadership of the CENI by consensus, have been at loggerheads for months and failed to reach agreement.
Leaders of the Protestant and Catholic churches say they have been threatened and pressured.