Two opposition frontrunners in DR Congo's long-awaited presidential election refused Saturday to sign a peace pact on the eve of a poll that has stirred fears of violence in the volatile nation.
With tensions rising before the vote, Martin Fayulu and Felix Tshisekedi rejected a proposed pledge aimed at averting post-election violence, saying election officials had failed to make suggested changes to the text.
They announced their decision after a brief meeting with African election observers.
Voters are to cast ballots Sunday to decide who will replace President Joseph Kabila, stepping aside after nearly 18 years at the helm of the vast, resource rich nation that has not known a peaceful transfer of power since independence in 1960.
The country's Independent National Election Commission (CENI) had sought to persuade the two opposition heavyweights, and Kabila's preferred successor Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, to sign a pact aimed at preventing violence after the result was announced.
The text, which had not been seen by AFP, was a "commitment to peace, for transparent, calm and non-violent elections", according to the head of the commission, Corneille Nangaa.
Fayulu, until recently a little-known legislator and former oil executive, said earlier that both he and Tshisekedi declined to sign an initial draft but had promised "to sign the agreement incorporating the amendments."
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