Jean-Pierre Bemba, the loser of the presidential election in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), on Saturday formally contested the outcome of the vote, which gave victory to incumbent Jospeh Kabila.
The outcome of the vote was formally challenged by the rapporteur of Bemba’s Union for the Nation coalition, Delly Sessanga, on behalf of the outgoing vice-president.
Bemba on Thursday rejected the provisional results of the elections and said he would use ”all legal channels” to contest them.
Dozens of police and United Nations troops had earlier been deployed in the centre of Kinshasa after a call for protests transmitted by text message from Bemba supporters.
The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, said in an interview with a German newspaper he was ”confident” that Bemba would accept his electoral defeat, announced on Wednesday, adding that European Union troops would leave the country on November 30. — AFP
