KINSHASA: TheDemocratic Republic of Congo yesterday began counting ballots from apresidential election marked by delays and fears of violence and vote-rigging,straining hopes for its first-ever peaceful transfer of power. Sunday'selections went ahead after two years of delays and sporadic clashes in theunstable country, but the influential national conference of Catholic bishopsdeclared the vote had been "relatively calm."
Among reportedincidents, some electoral observers were harassed and a clash took in therestive eastern province of South Kivu that left four people dead. The DRC hasnever had a peaceful transition of leader since it gained independence fromBelgium in 1960. Worries of a new spiral into violence deepened after PresidentJoseph Kabila, in power since 2001, refused to quit two years ago when hisconstitutionally-declared limit expired.
Tension andsuspicion were further stoked by repeated delays, a bloody crackdown on anti-Kabila protests andaccusations that electronic voting machines would help to rig the result. ButKabila appeared on public television late Sunday to congratulate the Congolesefor having voted "in peace and dignity".
Provisionalresults are due to be announced on January 6, final results on January 15 andthe new president sworn in on January 18. From Kinshasa to Goma, 2,000kilometers further east, polling stations already put up first results onMonday morning. In Kisangani, the country's third-largest city, observers hiredby the political parties slept on the floor or on desks at a polling station tokeep their eye on the vote count, an AFP reporter said.
Meanwhile, aspokesman for Catholic Church observers, who were present at 78 percent ofpolling stations, said some had been forced to leave the voting centers."We had cases where our observers were molested and violated," LucLutala told AFP yesterday morning. On Sunday evening, violence erupted at apolling station in the Walungu area of South Kivu province after an electoralofficial was accused of trying to rig the vote in favour of Kabila's preferredsuccessor, according to an opposition figure. The electoral official was killedalong with a policeman and two civilians, said Vital Kamerhe, who has beencampaigning for Felix Tshisekedi.
Victory claims
Kabila's championEmmanuel Ramazani Shadary declared Sunday to Actualite.cd news site: "I'llbe elected, I'll be president." Separately, Tshisekedi, one of his biggestrivals and the head of a veteran opposition party, UDPS, predicted:"Victory is ours." However, the scant opinion polls that have beenconducted in the diverse, sprawling country made Martin Fayulu -- untilrecently a little-known legislator and former oil executive -- the clearfavourite.
He garneredaround 44 percent of voting intentions, followed by Tshisekedi with 24 percentand Shadary with 18 percent, said Jason Stearns of the Congo Research Group,based at the Center on International Cooperation at New York University. If theelections are "free and fair," an opposition candidate will almostcertainly win. However, "the potential for violence is extremelyhigh," he warned. Roughly half ofsurvey respondents said they would reject the result if Shadary -- a hardlineformer interior minister who is facing EU sanctions for a crackdown onprotesters -- was declared winner.
Voting hitches
While turnoutfailed to reach 50 percent at some polling stations, many voters said they wereexhilarated at taking part in the first elections after the nearly 18-yearKabila era. But there was also much evidence of organizational problems,including with the contested voting machines. The vote for a new president tookplace alongside legislative and municipal polls.
A country almostthe size of continental western Europe which straddles central Africa, the DRCis rich in gold, uranium, copper, cobalt and other minerals. Little of thatwealth trickles down to the poor. Poverty, corruption and government inertiaare etched into the country's history, along with a reputation for violence. Inthe last 22 years, it has twice been a battleground for wars drawing in armiesfrom central and southern Africa. That legacy endures in eastern DRC, wheremilitias control swathes of territory and battle over resources, wantonlykilling civilians.
Insecurity and anongoing Ebola epidemic in part of North Kivu province, and communal violence inYumbi, in the southwest, prompted the authorities to postpone the electionsthere until March. Around 1.25 million people in a national electoral roll ofaround 40 million voters are affected. Despite this, elections in the rest ofthe country went ahead. - AFP