The transitional government in the Democratic Republic of Congo has wasted no time in moving from the chaotic but successful constitutional referendum last month to full-blown elections by the end of April.
Results released recently show that 62% of the 25-million registered voters turned out in the referendum, delivering a resounding 84% vote in favour of the new basic law. Elections are slated to start in March and culminate in the presidential contest on April 29.
The United Nations will pick up 90% of the $430-million tab, making it the most expensive election the world body has ever financed.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has called for an additional 2 500 peacekeepers. This would take the largest peacekeeping force on the planet to more than 19 000.
A major hurdle was removed when Etienne Tshisikedi, thrice prime minister in the Mobutu era, announced that his Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS) would partici-pate in the elections. His referendum boycott produced the only violence during the poll as over-zealous supporters in his stronghold, Mbuji Mayi, beat up electoral officials.
Tshisikedi has asked that the regis-tration process be reopened to allow his supporters to get on to the voters’ roll. Transitional government officials say this is a practical impossibility, offering instead to extend the candidate registration period and to make a special effort to have those candidates placed on the voters’ roll.
The generally favourable reports from international observers notwithstanding, the referendum highlighted problems in organising the central African giant’s first election in more than 40 years. The lack of voter education and training for electoral staff cannot possibly be addressed in time for the April poll. Setting up nearly 40 000 polling stations in a country the size of Western Europe, without any road network worth mentioning, is a logistical Everest. And, as with the referendum, electoral officials will demand payment in advance.