Congo runner-up in presidential vote asks court to order vote recount

Congo presidential runner-up Martin Fayuluhas confirmedhe has filed a court challenge to the election results, asking for a recount and alleging fraud.

The constitutional court has seven days to consider the challenge.

Fayulu has alleged a backroom deal between the declared winner, opposition leader Felix Tshisekedi, and President Joseph Kabila.

"You can't manufacture results behind closed doors," he told reporters on Saturday.

Kabila is due to step down in the coming days after 18 yearsin power, in what was meant to be Congo's first democratictransfer of power in 59 years of independence. But he has
signaled he intends to remain involved in politics and mightrun for president in 2023 when term limits no longer apply.

Fayulu'scoalition asserts he won with 61 per cent of the vote, according to the Catholic Church's 40,000 election observers across the country. Congo's electoral commission says he received 34 per cent andTshisekedi38 per cent.

The commission's president has said there are two options: The official results are accepted or the election is annulled.

Fayulu has calledfor a manual recount of the vote in all three of Congo's Dec. 30 elections: presidential, legislative and provincial. He alleges in a Twitter post that the results were"fabricated."

The electoral commission has said the ruling coalition of President Joseph Kabila won a majority of the national assembly seats and provincial ones.

The commission announced thoseresults early Saturday and results for the presidential campaign on Thursday. It said the date for the presidentialinauguration is Jan. 22.

Fayulu, a former Exxon manager and Kinshasa legislator, was a vocal activist during the turbulent delay in Congo's election, insisting it was time for Kabila to go. Many feared the president would find a way to stay in office and protect his vast assets obtained from Congo's staggering mineral wealth.

Fayulu was backed by two popular opposition leaders barred by the government from running.