Congo's President Joseph Kabila has a strong lead in partial results from last month's historic elections, winning more than 50 per cent of votes tallied by today with results in from nearly half of the constituencies.
Jean-Pierre Bemba, a former rebel leader and now a deputy president, trails in second place with 16.6 per cent according to official preliminary results from 78 out of 169 constituencies, but not including any votes from the capital Kinshasa where Mr Kabila is unpopular.
With results still trickling in and tensions running high amid accusations of fraud, the Democratic Republic of Congo's electoral commission has warned against projecting results for the huge country's first free polls in over 40 years.
But Mr Kabila's strong showing in his native east is fuelling speculation that he may avoid a run-off by winning over half the votes cast in polls meant to draw a line under a decade of war and chaos in the mineral-rich state.
"We are in a good position - we will win in the first round, as predicted," a presidency source said.
Although Mr Kabila performed strongly in the east, most votes in the west appear to have gone to Mr Bemba and other candidates such as Harvard-trained doctor Oscar Kashala and Nzanga Mobutu, son of the late dictator Mobutu Sese Seko.
The elections, which were protected by the world's largest UN peacekeeping force, have underscored a deep divide between the Swahili-speaking east and Lingala-speaking west.
Election analysts caution that Kabila's tally could be hurt when results come in from Lingala-speaking Kinshasa, where nearly 3 million voters are registered and turnout was roughly 80 per cent.
The July 30th polls cost over $450 million and were meant to offer Congo a fresh start after a 1998-2003 war that killed 4 million people, mostly from hunger and disease