January12,2019

Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) held the presidential election last month. However, this presidential election revealed many disputes in DRC. 

The largest opposition party in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS), questioned about the result of last month’s presidential election. The winner of this election seemed like an open secret for the public even though the polling before the election predicted another candidate, Martin Fayulu, would be the winner.

The constitution of Congolese limited the presidential to two five-year terms. However, the current president of DRC, Joseph Kabila, has been the president for 18 years. Besides, President Kabila appointed Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary to be the next president. Therefore, this presidential election has been tampered with by lots of violence and man-made interruption.

New York Times reported that Martin Fayulu won the presidential election. This statement caused the predicted violence and chaos. This unstable situation made the U.S. send out the military to protect the U.S. citizens and the diplomatic officials who live near the DRC.

The result of this president election is still unclear. President Kabila might directly announce Mr. Shadary to be the next president or he might turn down to let go of his power.