Four of the six opposition candidates in weekend presidential polls in Burkina Faso said on Wednesday they would reject the outcome of the vote, denouncing what they called "serious irregularities"."We, candidates of the opposition ... reject all results, even provisional, that will be announced," said a statement signed by the four, who called for a new election to be held.
Benewende Stanislas Sankara, Hama Arba Diallo, Boukari Kabore and Francois Ouampoussogo Kabore said the irregularities "seriously damage the credibility and the regularity of the vote."
They cited the "non-legality of voters' cards", along with multiple voting by individuals, the "existence of parallel voters' rolls" and the "deliberate withholding" of voters' cards in "opposition strongholds."
The independent electoral commission said it would announce the results on Thursday at the latest. The poll pitted the west African country's incumbent President Blaise Compaore against half a dozen opposition figures.
The four opposition candidates called for "the immediate and unconditional resignation of the current head of the CENI (Independent National Electoral Commission), Moussa Michel Tapsoba, and the reorganisation of this panel".
Compaore's two other rivals, Emile Pargui Pare and Maxime Kabore, an independent, did not sign the statement.
The dissenting voices were countered by an observer team from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which has declared that the election was "credible" and "transparent".
"We say that these elections are credible, transparent and free, and that in consequence they are completely valid," the Togolese head of the team, Koffi Sama, told a presser late Monday.
The only flaw was the non-conformity of voters' cards with the regulations stipulated in the electoral code, Sama said, adding that ECOWAS observers also regretted a low turnout on polling day.