Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) rejected the demand of African Union (AU) to postpone the announcement of the final election result, in spite of the warning of the possible unrest, caused by released by the Catholic bishops information, proclaiming the former Exxon Mobile manager Martin Fayulu (62) as the absolute winner. Following the contestant complains, the Constitutional Court assessed the plebiscite legality in a response to an appeal filed by election runner-up Martin Fayulu – who says he was cheated of his victory in the December 30 election.

“The court is independent,” government spokesman Lambert Mende said on January 18. “I don’t think it is the business of the government or even of the African Union to tell the court what it should do.”