Kinshasa – Ahead of next year’s elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo, researchers on Tuesday said they were concerned the process had got off to “a bad start” and warned of the risk of “violent protests”.
Political tensions have been mounting in the vast and volatile central African country, where elections frequently spark clashes.
“The DRC risks missing the opportunity to put its electoral process in order,” said a report published in French by the Congo Research Group and Ebuteli, linked to New York University.
The researchers said “political control persists over the institutions involved in managing the electoral process”.
Ithiel Batumike, a researcher at Ebuteli, said there was a “deficit of confidence” in these bodies.
He also spoke of a “lack of transparency” and a “vagueness around the electoral districts”.
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The largest country in sub-Saharan Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo was ruled for 18 years by the iron-fisted Joseph Kabila, who handed over power in January 2019 after peaceful but disputed elections.
The vote was marred by accusations of irregularities and the European Union and others cast doubt over its credibility.
Felix Tshisekedi, Kabila’s successor, won the vote on a campaign to cleanse the country’s entrenched reputation for corruption and uphold human rights.
The next presidential election is supposed to be held in late 2023 according to an electoral commission roadmap and Tshisekedi has already expressed his intention to run again.
But the report raised concerns about the timeframe of the election, saying “the current electoral process seems to have been delayed” at the outset.
It warned that “the spectre of a shift in the electoral calendar” looms large.
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Source: AFP
Picture: Pixabay
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