Johannesburg - France has added its voice to concerns about the legitimacy of the Democratic Republic of Congo's (DRC's) presidential election results, which saw main opposition leader Felix Tshisekedi win after securing over 37 percent of the vote.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Thursday morning that opposition leader Martin Fayulu should have won instead of Tshisekedi, following Wednesday's announcement of provisional results in the wake of the December 30 elections.
Le Drian told France's CNews that the declared outcome of the elections was "not consistent" with the actual results.
Earlier Thursday Fayulu also expressed alarm at the results when he said an "electoral coup" had taken place.
"These results have nothing to do with the truth at the ballot box," Fayulu told Radio France International.
"It's a real electoral coup, it's incomprehensible."
Vote counting had been repeatedly delayed despite Sunday being D-day for the announcement of the provisional results with the official electoral office CENI saying that the delay was due to only a manual tally being counted, raising suspicions by the opposition that the delay was deliberate.
Opposition activists on Wednesday threatened to take to the streets if CENI failed to announce the results.
Confirmation of the official results are due to be announced next Tuesday, three days before the new president is sworn in.