Congo polls must be held by mid-August

NAIROBI – Coming elections in Congo are provoking more bloodshed in a vast country crippled by war, but the polls must be held by mid-August to prevent worse instability, an international think tank said yesterday.

The first multi-party elections for four decades in the mineral-rich Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) were officially scheduled for June 18 after being postponed from 2005. Another postponement of the parliamentary and presidential vote is now considered inevitable because of logistical delays.The polls are intended to draw a line under a five-year war and ensuing humanitarian crisis that drew in six neighbouring countries and has killed at least 4 million people.But the delays benefit the members of a power-sharing transitional government set up under a 2002 peace deal – a coalition of former belligerents and politicians headed by President Joseph Kabila – by leaving them in control.The respected International Crisis Group (ICG) called on the government and the international community to ensure that free and fair elections are held by August 12-13 at the latest.”Elections are a step in the right direction, but if not carried out properly they could trigger further unrest.”If the population and leaders conclude change cannot come peacefully through the ballot box, they may well resort to violence to contest the results,” an ICG report said.Despite painting a gloomy picture of the obstacles to a fair vote, the report’s author, Jason Stearns, told Reuters: “The least worst of all solutions are elections at the moment…the situation in Kinshasa is unsustainable.”The report said the Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD), a former Rwandan-backed rebel group and government member, was deeply unpopular and likely to lose most of its power in a vote.For this reason, there had been a recent resurgence of violence in the east of the country, which was likely to get worse as dissident former rebels attacked Congo’s newly integrated army.In addition, the vote had been inadequately prepared and there were insufficient safeguards against fraud.The main political opposition, led by Etienne Tshisekedi, is expected to boycott the vote because it says the election will not be fair.This was likely to cause unrest in Kinshasa and the Kasai provinces, where Tshisekedi has his main support.The ICG said most Congolese “are tired of a transitional government that shows little interest in lifting the population out of misery and has used power for personal enrichment.The ballot box is a way out of this situation.”It called on the government and the international community to take a series of actions to ensure the ballot was as free and fair as possible and prevent fraud or intimidation of the population by military forces, including those loyal to Kabila.The ICG asked the United Nations to work with the transitional government to deal with the militias in eastern Congo by addressing local grievances, especially over land, and to arrest Laurent Nkunda, a formerly Rwandan-backed general charged with war crimes.- Nampa-ReutersAnother postponement of the parliamentary and presidential vote is now considered inevitable because of logistical delays.The polls are intended to draw a line under a five-year war and ensuing humanitarian crisis that drew in six neighbouring countries and has killed at least 4 million people.But the delays benefit the members of a power-sharing transitional government set up under a 2002 peace deal – a coalition of former belligerents and politicians headed by President Joseph Kabila – by leaving them in control.The respected International Crisis Group (ICG) called on the government and the international community to ensure that free and fair elections are held by August 12-13 at the latest.”Elections are a step in the right direction, but if not carried out properly they could trigger further unrest.”If the population and leaders conclude change cannot come peacefully through the ballot box, they may well resort to violence to contest the results,” an ICG report said.Despite painting a gloomy picture of the obstacles to a fair vote, the report’s author, Jason Stearns, told Reuters: “The least worst of all solutions are elections at the moment…the situation in Kinshasa is unsustainable.”The report said the Congolese Rally for Democracy (RCD), a former Rwandan-backed rebel group and government member, was deeply unpopular and likely to lose most of its power in a vote.For this reason, there had been a recent resurgence of violence in the east of the country, which was likely to get worse as dissident former rebels attacked Congo’s newly integrated army.In addition, the vote had been inadequately prepared and there were insufficient safeguards against fraud.The main political opposition, led by Etienne Tshisekedi, is expected to boycott the vote because it says the election will not be fair.This was likely to cause unrest in Kinshasa and the Kasai provinces, where Tshisekedi has his main support.The ICG said most Congolese “are tired of a transitional government that shows little interest in lifting the population out of misery and has used power for personal enrichment.The ballot box is a way out of this situation.”It called on the government and the international community to take a series of actions to ensure the ballot was as free and fair as possible and prevent fraud or intimidation of the population by military forces, including those loyal to Kabila.The ICG asked the United Nations to work with the transitional government to deal with the militias in eastern Congo by addressing local grievances, especially over land, and to arrest Laurent Nkunda, a formerly Rwandan-backed general charged with war crimes.- Nampa-Reuters