The United States is determined to work with the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo after the country's Constitutional Court confirmed Felix Tshisekedi as new president, US Department of State deputy spokesman Robert Palladino said in a statement on Wednesday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd January, 2019) The United States is determined to work with the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo after the country's Constitutional Court confirmed Felix Tshisekedi as new president, US Department of State deputy spokesman Robert Palladino said in a statement on Wednesday."The United States welcomes the Congolese Constitutional Court's certification of Felix Tshisekedi as the next President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)," Palladino said. "We are committed to working with the new DRC government. We encourage the government to include a broad representation of Congo's political stakeholders and to address reports of electoral irregularities."
On Sunday, DRC's Constitutional Court confirmed the provisional results of the December 20 presidential election and proclaimed opposition candidate Tshisekedi to be the republic's new president. The court is required by law to verify the results of the vote.
"The United States salutes the people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo for their insistence on a peaceful and democratic �transfer of power," Palladino added. "We also recognize outgoing President Joseph Kabila's commitment to becoming the first President in DRC history to cede power peacefully through an electoral process."
Earlier in January, DRC's National Electoral Commission (CENI) announced that, according to the provisional results, Tshisekedi had been elected president with more than 38 percent of the votes. His opponent, Martin Fayulu, refused to concede defeat because of alleged electoral fraud and claimed he had been elected president by winning more than 60 percent of the votes.
In response to the ruling, Fayulu accused both the National Electoral Commission and the Constitutional Court of serving Tshisekedi's interests and violating the republic's laws, and called on the citizens to organize peaceful demonstrations across the country.
