Congo Opposition Leader Tshisekedi Clinches Surprise Win in Presidential Election

Felix Tshisekedi, leader of the Congolese main opposition party, the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS) who was announced as the winner of the presidential elections walks after meeting to his supporters in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Jan. 10, 2019. Baz Ratner/Reuters

KINSHASA—Democratic Republic of Congo’s electoral commission on Jan. 10 declared opposition leader Felix Tshisekedi the surprise winner of last month’s chaotic presidential election, but the runner-up dismissed the outcome as an “electoral coup”.

The result sets the stage for Congo’s first democratic transfer of power, but also a tense political standoff with the potential for the kind of violence that followed polls in 2006 and 2011 whose outcome was contested.