DR Congo electoral body warns that presidential vote risks delay due to militia violence
The Democratic Republic of Congo’s presidential elections slated for later this year risk being delayed again due to persistent militia violence in the central region of the country, the election commission president said on Friday.
The DR Congo’s elections were to be conducted in November2016, but were postponed after the government said it needed more time toregister voters.
The country’s opposition accused President Joseph Kabila of deliberately delaying the elections as a way of clinging on to power, though the electoral commission said it could not hold the vote due to logistical challenges.
Analysts warn that further delays of the poll would likelyrekindle violent anti-Kabila protests that resulted in dozens of deaths last year.
In a deal struck in December 2016, a presidential election to replace Kabila must take place by the end of this year.
The 45-year-old has been in power since 2001, and was supposed to step down at the end of his term in December last year.
In an interview in the capital Kinshasa, the president of Congo’s electoral commission (CENI), Corneille Nangaa, said the violence in the central Kasai region and other logistical constraints risked undermining the integrity of the vote.
“If we organize the election hastily without preparing what is necessary because we must stick to the date, we risk having non-credible elections and that will probably lead to violence,” Reuters reports him to say.
