Mauritanian opposition rejects Ghazouani election victory

Mauritanian opposition rejects Ghazouani election victory

Opposition parties in Mauritania say they reject official election results that give a win to Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, a former defense minister and close ally of President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, who received 52 percent of the vote in the country’s presidential contest on Saturday. The political tensions have left…

Mauritania awaits election results with Ghazouani in early lead

Mauritania awaits election results with Ghazouani in early lead

Election officials in Mauritania say the nation’s historic presidential election has gone smoothly, despite concern about the potential for fraud voiced by some opposition candidates. Mohamed Vall Ould Bellal, president of the Independent National Electoral Commission, said there were no problems while promising transparency and the rule of law will…

DR Congo court rejects Fayulu election challenge

The Constitutional Court in Democratic Republic of Congo has dismissed an appeal filed by losing presidential candidate Martin Fayulu, in a ruling late Saturday that paves the way for final confirmation of a victory for Felix Tshisekedi of the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS). The court’s decision was…

DR Congo: AU calls for halt on final election result decision

The African Union has called on the Democratic Republic of Congo to suspend the announcement of final results in the contested December 30 elections, following an emergency meeting at AU headquarters on Thursday. The AU and other stakeholders in Addis Ababa said there were “serious doubts” on provisional results that…

DR Congo elections: CENI announces Tshisekedi win

The Democratic Republic of Congo was still waiting early Thursday morning, as the 11:00 p.m. deadline for announcing results from the contentious December 30 presidential election came and went. It was nearly two hours later when chief Corneille Nangaa and election officials with CENI, the national electoral commission, finally entered the…

DRC election: CENI chief says foreign diplomats are threatening him

The top election official in Democratic Republic of Congo complained that foreign diplomats are interfering with the CENI electoral commission’s work, even as Sunday’s deadline passed with no results of the December 30 election made public. Corneille Nangaa told local journalists that “diplomats are trying to threaten us” but did…

On a different New Year’s Eve for the DR Congo

Two years ago on New Year’s Eve, the Democratic Republic of Congo finally saw a breakthrough in the political impasse that pitted outgoing President Joseph Kabila against opposition leaders who demanded elections. Kabila, having reached the end of his constitutionally limited second term, agreed to a deal brokered through CENCO,…

Laureen Fagan

Laureen is the editor of Africa Times

Rajoelina has 11-point lead as Madagascar finishes vote count

Andry Rajoelina is poised for the official win in Madagascar’s presidential elections, with final results in the  second round runoff expected on Thursday. Rajoelina, above, has 55.6 percent of the vote while Marc Ravalomanana of the opposition Tiako I Madagasikara (TIM) party has 44.4 percent, according to numbers released by…

DRC postpones elections until December 30

The head of the national electoral commission (CENI) in Democratic Republic of Congo said Thursday that long-delayed elections scheduled for Sunday are now postponed until December 30. Corneille Nangaa, the CENI president, held a press conference in Kinshasa to explain that for technical and logistic reasons, the contentious elections must…

DRC: Will electoral commission postpone the elections again?

The head of the national electoral commission (CENI) in Democratic Republic of Congo plans a press conference for Thursday amid growing concerns that long-delayed elections could be postponed yet again. Corneille Nangaa, the CENI president, said as recently as Monday that he was confident the elections planned for Sunday would…

Madagascar set for second-round presidential election

It’s down to the wire in Madagascar as the country ended its campaigns Monday, in preparation for Wednesday’s runoff election to determine who will become president – or in this case, president again. Both candidates in the island nation’s election have served in the top office before. Marc Ravalomanana of…