Incumbent President Joseph Kabila was declared the winner Friday of Democratic Republic of Congo elections after a marathon 11-day wait for results that fuelled fears of violence.
Here is how the campaign unfolded:
--NOVEMBER--
- 26: Campaigning ends in violence and confusion. The authorities ban political rallies in Kinshasa after violence in which at least two people died.
Opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi is engaged in an hours-long stand-off with police at Kinshasa airport after they blockade his red Hummer.
- 27: Tshisekedi calls off a rally that would have defied the ban on political gatherings.
- 28: The DR Congo holds national elections to elect its president and 500 parliamentarians. Eleven candidates, including Kabila, seek the highest office.
In Lubumbashi, in the southeast of the country, two police officers and a woman voter are killed in an attack on a polling station. A convoy transporting electoral materials comes under attack. In the central city of Kananga, polling stations are set on fire.
- 29: Three presidential candidates, including Senate speaker Leon Kengo, demand the annulment of the elections they say were marred by "breaches and irregularities".
- 30: Tshisekedi's UDPS party denounces "fraud and violence". Presidential Majority secretary general Aubin Minaku accuses the UDPS of "insurrectionist schemes".
--DECEMBER--
- 1: An EU monitoring mission says it has observed widespread voting irregularities.
- 2: Rights group Human Rights Watch says election-related violence has already killed 18 civilians, mostly at the hands of the security services, between November 26-28.
- 2-3: Kabila and Tshisekedi are ahead of the pack in early results released by the electoral commission.
- 4: Thousands of people flee Kinshasa for Brazzaville, the capital of neighbouring Congo, fearing violence.
- 6: Police fire tear gas to disperse opposition supporters in Kinshasa as tensions run high in the country ahead of the results.
- 7: Tshisekedi rejects partial results showing Kabila in the lead and makes veiled threats of violence if the incumbent is declared the winner.
- 8: The announcement of results is put off for the second time in three days.
The International Crisis Group says the country could plunge into a spiral of violence.
- 9: The electoral commission names Kabila as winner with 48.95% of the vote, ahead of Tshisekedi with 32.33%. The latter proclaims himself the country's elected president. The results must be endorsed by the Supreme Court which will on December 17 name the final winner.
Violent protests erupt in the capital Kinshasa.
