The Democratic Republic of Congo’s constitutional court is today expected to rule on a challenge to the presidential election.
This even as the government dismissed calls by the African Union (AU) on Friday to delay giving a final verdict and releasing the final results of the December 30 elections.
The electoral commission last week declared opposition candidate Felix Tshisekedi as the winner of the presidential race amid growing concern of result tampering.
Upholding the official results could spark new violence in a country hoping for its first peaceful, democratic transfer of power since independence in 1960.
At least 34 people have been killed since provisional results were released on Jan. 10, the United Nations said.
Martin Fayulu, who came in second in the presidential race, filed an appeal seeking a manual vote recount, alleging fraud.
The electoral commission has said Tshisekedi won 38 percent of the vote and Fayulu 34 percent.
However, the AP reports that leaked data published by some media outlets, attributed to the electoral commission and representing 86 percent of the votes, show that Fayulu won 59.4 percent while Tshisekedi received 19 percent.
Internet service is yet to be restored in the country after being shut on election day.
