Republic of Congo court validates Sassou Nguesso's re-election

Republic of Congo Constitutional Court on Monday validated the victory of incumbent President Denis Sassou Nguesso in the first round of presidential elections held on March 20 with 60.19 percent of the votes cast.

The final results, read by the court's president Auguste Iloki, make Sassou Nguesso's victory official and open the door for him to lead the Republic of Congo for five more years.

"Given that an absolute majority was needed for one to win in the first round of the March 20 presidential elections, and considering that Sassou Nguesso got an absolute majority of the votes cast during those elections, we declare him the validly elected president of the republic," Iloki said.

The only contention against the elections that was brought by opposition candidate Guy Brice Parfait Kolelas who came second with 15.05 percent, was termed inadmissible by the court because it was filed a day after the expiry of the five-day period for filing election disputes.

The publication of the final presidential election results by the Constitutional Court came amid fighting between the army and ex-Ninja militia led by Pastor Ntoumi after they managed to enter in southern Brazzaville.

According to governmental sources which claimed the situation had been brought under control, the armed intrusion in the capital was due to Sassou Nguesso's re-election in the first round.

Five radical opposition leaders had opposed the president's candidature and have been calling for civil disobedience and armed rebellion since the announcement of provisional results on March 24. Enditem