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The opposition and ruling coalition claimed to be victorious even before the official results of Congo's presidential elections were announced.
Democratic Republic of Congo's opposition said Monday it expected one of its candidates to win the presidential election based on early vote tallies, but the ruling coalition said it was confident its candidate had won the chaotic contest.
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The competing claims followed a disorderly election day Sunday in which many Congolese were unable to vote due to an Ebola outbreak, conflict and logistical problems.
After unofficial tallies started to circulate on social media Monday, most mobile internet connections in the capital Kinshasa went down, residents said, in a possible move by authorities to stop the information from circulating.
Connections were also slow or down in the eastern city of Goma. Authorities have cut the internet in the past, saying they sought to stop rumors from spreading during protests.
The vote is meant to choose a successor to outgoing President Joseph Kabila after 18 years in power and could lead to the vast central African country's first ever democratic transition.
Any disputed outcome could lead to a repeat of the violence that followed the 2006 and 2011 elections and a wider security breakdown, particularly along Congo's borders with Rwanda, Uganda, and Burundi, where dozens of the armed militia are active.
Vital Kamerhe, the campaign manager to opposition candidate Felix Tshisekedi, said early counting showed Tshisekedi and the other main opposition candidate Martin Fayulu neck-and-neck in the lead, both with over 40 percent of the vote.
He said the ruling coalition candidate, Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, who is backed by Kabila, had only about 13 percent, although a significant part of the vote remained to be tabulated.
The election is the first-past-the-post system-meaning, the candidate with most votes win- with no run-off.
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Nehemie Mwilanya, Kabila's chief of staff and a member of Shadary's campaign, told a news conference on Monday morning that he was confident Shadary had won, although he did not provide specific figures.
"For us, victory is certain," Mwilanya said.
Fayulu's camp has not yet provided specific numbers but Fayulu said late Sunday that Shadary's camp was "dreaming" if it thought it was going to win.
The most recent opinion poll before the election, released by New York University's Congo Research Group Friday, showed Fayulu, a former Exxon Mobil manager, leading the race on 47 percent.
Tshisekedi had 24 percent and Shadary 19 percent.
The first partial results are expected from the national electoral commission (CENI) Tuesday.
Election day witnessed sporadic violence, including an altercation at a polling place in eastern Congo in which at least three people were killed.
More than 1.2 million Congolese were unable to vote in three opposition strongholds, where the CENI canceled the poll last week, citing an ongoing Ebola outbreak and ethnic violence.
However, in the Ebola hotspot of Beni, an opposition stronghold, residents staged a mock presidential election to show the authorities a decision to postpone the vote there due to health fears was unfounded.
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