DR of Congo: How Will the Elections Unfold? · Global Voices
The presidential elections in the DRC are scheduled for November 28, 2011. The stakes are evidently high, given the history of civil conflict (the 2006 presidential elections were facilitated by UN peacekeepers).
The 2011 campaign officially began on October 28 [fr] and includes 13 candidates in a country that has as many as 400 political parties. Many observers have highlighted the major events during the campaign, and attempted to forecast how the elections will unfold.
Radio Okapi highlights the difficulties [fr] encountered by the CENI (the Independent Commission for the National Elections) in the days before the elections:
Au cours d’une conférence de presse tenue vendredi 25 novembre, son rapporteur <PERSON> a déclaré que 33 aéronefs n’ont pas pu décoller pour des raisons météorologiques. Ces engins devraient servir au déploiement du matériel électoral dans les provinces.«Vous êtes un peu déçu, mais rassurez-vous que ce n’est pas de mauvaise foi. C’est pour des raisons opérationnelles », a ajouté <PERSON>.En dépit de ces difficultés logistiques, <PERSON> a annoncé que les élections auront bel et bien lieu le 28 novembre.
During the November 25 press conference, the CENI representative <PERSON> declared that 33 aircraft could not take off because of bad weather. The planes are needed for the distribution of election materials in the provinces. “You're a little disappointed, but rest assured that it's not in bad faith. The delay is mostly because of operational reasons,” said <PERSON>. Despite these logistical difficulties, <PERSON> announced that elections will indeed take place on November 28.
Radio Okapi also notes that 50,000 voters in the region of Rutshuru of Northern Kivu still did not know where they would vote [fr]:
Des sources rapportent qu’au moins 18 centres n’ont toujours pas de listes d’électeurs. Cette situation inquiète les électeurs de ce territoire. 575
[..] Député élu de la circonscription électorale de Rutshuru, <PERSON> appelle ses électeurs à l’apaisement.
«J’ai contacté la haute hiérarchie de la Ceni. Toutes ces autorités viennent de me rassurer que les listes électorales vont nous arriver avant les élections. Tout détenteur de la carte électorale à Rutshuru va voter lundi. C’est la garantie qu’ils m’ont donné et je voudrais que toute la population de Rutshuru s’apaise», a rassuré le professeur <PERSON>.
Sources report that at least 18 centers still do not have electoral lists. This worried the voters of the territory. […] <PERSON>, the elected MP in the electoral district of Rutshuru, asked her constituents for calm.
“I contacted the top hierarchy of the CENI. The authorities assured me that the voters lists are going to reach us before the elections. Any holder of a voter's card in Rutshuru will be able to vote on Monday. This is the guarantee they gave me and I want all the people of Rutshuru to stay calm.”
Voting Booth in DRC on Flickr by FredR (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0).
In Bunyakiri, the blog Local Voices also raised concerns about the fact that electoral lists and voting ballots are still to be dispatched [fr] to 160 polling stations.
<PERSON> sums up the growing fear of delay:
A last-minute delay in the election appears to be likely, according to several separate diplomatic sources in Kinshasa. The sources, who wished the remain anonymous given the insistence by the election commission that elections will be held on November 28, said that it would extremely difficult to deploy all necessary materials on time. However, one of the diplomats suggested that the commission thinks it will be less controversial to present the various actors with a fait accompli: a brief delay of the polls.
However, other sources, including the election commission and the UN peacekeeping mission, believe it is still possible to hold elections on time.
The logistical task for the election commission is daunting. 847