Church slams new DRC election date

KINSHASA – The Roman Catholic Church in the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) slammed the electoral commission on Monday for delaying long-awaited elections by a month to July 30.

At least one presidential candidate also contested the decision after it was announced on Sunday night. The presidential and legislative elections were supposed to take place within three years of the promulgation of a transitional constitution on June 30, 2003, after years of war.”We must agree on an election date that is acceptable to everyone, to avoid some people claiming that the country has no institutions after the 30th of June,” Archbishop Laurent Monsengwo, head of the DRC’s national episcopal conference, told a news conference in Kinshasa.The polls were originally scheduled for June 18 and postponed in March with no new date set.Independent Electoral Commission (CEI) chairman Abbot Apollinaire Malu Malu said Sunday that the new date “did not violate any document” since transitional institutions will continue to operate until the newly elected government takes office.But Roger Lumbala, leader of the former rebel movement the Congolese Rally for Democracy-National (RCD-N) and a presidential candidate, told AFP on Sunday that the CEI had made “an unacceptable unilateral decision, which is a de facto extension of the transitional period”.”If we can extend the transitional period, then we can also reopen the registration centres to allow activists from the main opposition Union for Democracy and Social Progress to register to vote,” he added.- Nampa-AFPThe presidential and legislative elections were supposed to take place within three years of the promulgation of a transitional constitution on June 30, 2003, after years of war.”We must agree on an election date that is acceptable to everyone, to avoid some people claiming that the country has no institutions after the 30th of June,” Archbishop Laurent Monsengwo, head of the DRC’s national episcopal conference, told a news conference in Kinshasa.The polls were originally scheduled for June 18 and postponed in March with no new date set.Independent Electoral Commission (CEI) chairman Abbot Apollinaire Malu Malu said Sunday that the new date “did not violate any document” since transitional institutions will continue to operate until the newly elected government takes office.But Roger Lumbala, leader of the former rebel movement the Congolese Rally for Democracy-National (RCD-N) and a presidential candidate, told AFP on Sunday that the CEI had made “an unacceptable unilateral decision, which is a de facto extension of the transitional period”.”If we can extend the transitional period, then we can also reopen the registration centres to allow activists from the main opposition Union for Democracy and Social Progress to register to vote,” he added.- Nampa-AFP