Congo Brazzaville - election

Congo finishes counting amid calls for a rerun

Article published on the 2009-07-13 Latest update 2009-07-13 13:40 TU

Head of the Electoral Commission Henri Bouka talks to observers in Brazzaville
(Photo: AFP)

The official count in Congo’s presidential election ended on Monday but there is no indication of when the result of Sunday’s vote will be made public.

Incumbent President Denis Sassou Nguesso, who has ruled Congo for 25 years since first taking power in 1979, is widely expected to win another seven-year term, but opposition parties have called for a rerun, claiming that the turnout was less than ten per cent.

"The counting has ended, we now centralise the results," Territorial Administration Minister Raymond Mboulou told AFP. He added that the result would be published "tonight, tomorrow or the day after".

A statement from half of the 12 candidates up against Sassou Nguesso said more than 90 per cent of the electorate had boycotted the vote.

"The Congolese people have clearly expressed themselves with this record abstention of more than 90 per cent," it said.

"By this strong rate of abstention, the Congolese who love justice and peace have expressed their rejection of this totalitarian, arrogant and corrupt regime."

The statement went on to accuse the military of multiple voting and buying votes from the public.

Government spokesman Akouala Atipault rejected the accusation.

"The opposition declarations of massive fraud are incorrect and do not hold," he said. "We cannot speak of fraud when we had 170 international observers on the ground.”

The head of the Electoral Commission Henri Bouka also said the vote had been fair.

"Everything went off extremely well," he said.

If no candidate wins more than 50 per cent of the vote, a second round will be held.