April 26, 2006 - The date of the Congo elections is still uncertain. Many diplomats and observers believe that it is unlikely that the elections will take place before the end of July. The Independent Electoral Commission (CEI in French) was supposed to announce the date for the elections on April 19th of this year. However, after receiving almost 10,000 candidate submissions for the legislative race, the commission had to reassess its election calendar. Many of the mundane logistical obstacles that a number of observers pointed to (See Marie-France Cros article in the January 30 issue of La Libre Belgique) before the June 18th date was set for the presidential and legislative elections are coming to pass. Issues such as the printing of 25 million ballots, validating the candidates, and distributing the ballots to isolated areas or war zones remain major obstacles.

The CEI is hopeful that it will be able to announce a date for the elections by the end of April. However, there is yet another obstacle, the CEI is awaiting clarification on inconsistencies in articles 28 and 110 of the electoral law. These articles govern the commencement and duration of the electoral campaign. Because the campaign period has been changed and the current election calendar is no longer valid, a ruling must be made regarding a new electoral calendar. Article 28 says the electoral campaign is to start "up to thirty days before the polling day and to end twenty-four hours before that date;" while article 110 stipulates "the electoral campaign starts twenty-four hours after the publication of the final list of candidates and ends twenty-four hours before the beginning of the polling day."

The final list of the 33 presidential candidates has already been published by the CEI. The Supreme Court is deliberating on articles 28 and 110 after the Parliament indicated that it did not have the authority to interpret the laws. Clarification will facilitate the official launch of the presidential and legislative campaigns and enable the CEI to set an election timetable. No candidate can officially begin his/her campaign until this issue is resolved.

Many observers are concerned about the election date being pushed beyond June 30, 2006. They believe that this may cause a constitutional crisis because the 30th of June is the official end of the transitional government, which began in June 2003. However, members of the government and the Independent Electoral Commission point to article 222 in the newly ratified (February 2006) Congo constitution which states that the transitional government shall be in place until a new government is elected.

One candidate, M. Bonioma Kalokola Alou, whose status was being reviewed by the Supreme Court, has been added to the list of candidates running for president for a total of 33 presidential candidates. The Electoral Commission registered 9,587 legislative candidates who will be vying for 500 legislative seats. The Supreme court is in the process of verifying the candidates. Click here to see the list of legislative candidates!

Many obstacles remain before the Congolese go to the polls after four decades of undemocratic, tyrannical rule; not the least of which is the participation of all political players. Many Congolese still believe that those in power are manipulating the process with the support of the international community so that they can remain in power and continue to despoil the state coffers with impunity as many reports and audits have documented (see in particular the Lutundula Report (PDF) and the NIZA report entitled The State Against The People (PDF)).

The restlessness and suspicion of the population is of grave concern to officials organizing the elections. They are pressed to hold the elections as soon as possible after the June 30th date. Many fear that the Congolese may rise up against the transitional government, which is made up mainly of those belligerents who waged the war that resulted in deaths of over 4 million Congolese.

It is clear that elections will not be a panacea for the issues faced by this vast central African country the size of Western Europe with a population of 60 million. The best one can hope for as a result of the elections is legitimate leadership, stability and an abatement to the suffering of the Congolese people who are dying at a rate of 1,000 per day. Unfortunately, election planning irregularities coupled with the growing sense by some that the electoral process is unfair reduce the chances that elections will lead to peace in this perpetually beleaguered land.

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