DR Congo elections to be delayed

BRUSSELS – Elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo scheduled for June are to be delayed to allow candidates 10 more days to register, the president of the country’s electoral commission said.

“The date we have already announced of June 18 will be put back,” Apollinaire Malu Malu told a news conference in Brussels on preparations for the vote, hailed as Congo’s first democratic elections for four decades. He said parties had been given until April 2 – an extension of 10 days on a previous deadline – to register candidates, and his commission would announce on April 4 a new date for the presidential and parliamentary elections.Election officials have said 22 presidential candidates, including President Joseph Kabila, had registered to run.But the deadline for registration had been extended because too few parliamentary candidates had come forward.Congo’s polls were originally meant to be held in 2005.But fighting has continued across much of the east and wrangling between the former warring factions, now in a power-sharing government, has repeatedly stalled the transition.The logistical nightmare of organising polls in Congo – where roads are non-existent and election material has to be shipped by air, down rivers and on people’s heads through the jungle – has also accounted for delays.- Nampa-ReutersHe said parties had been given until April 2 – an extension of 10 days on a previous deadline – to register candidates, and his commission would announce on April 4 a new date for the presidential and parliamentary elections.Election officials have said 22 presidential candidates, including President Joseph Kabila, had registered to run.But the deadline for registration had been extended because too few parliamentary candidates had come forward.Congo’s polls were originally meant to be held in 2005.But fighting has continued across much of the east and wrangling between the former warring factions, now in a power-sharing government, has repeatedly stalled the transition.The logistical nightmare of organising polls in Congo – where roads are non-existent and election material has to be shipped by air, down rivers and on people’s heads through the jungle – has also accounted for delays.- Nampa-Reuters