Citizens of the Democratic Republic of Congo went to the polls on Sunday for the first time in nearly half a century for a vote that could help stabilize a region long ravaged by violence. But with rampant corruption and intimidation, change won't come easily. To get a sense of the challenges facing voters and the consequences of the election, we reviewed the international and Congolese press, and on-the-ground blogs.
Thirty-three candidates are clamoring for the top job. Connections often set candidates apart when distinguishing between policies proves tough. Transitional government and presidential candidate Joseph Kabila is the son of rebel leader Laurent Kabila, who overthrew longtime Congolese dictator Mobutu Sese Seko. His main competitor is Jean-Pierre Bemba, a multimillionaire businessman, former rebel leader and accused war criminal, and family friend of Mobutu. Next in line come a slew of rich politicians who traverse the country persuading voters with dollar bills, bottled water, and electric generators rather than party platforms.
Elections become even trickier to carry out when you add to this mix a horrifying humanitarian crisis and an election boycott from the country's largest opposition group. The powerful Congolese Catholic Church also threatened to tell its members to boycott if problems such as the printing of 5 million extra ballots aren't cleared up. With warlords backing candidates, many citizens are just too scared to vote. Some prominent warlords agreed to lay down weapons, but even the government's "security" forces have an agenda. They back Kabila and have a penchant for quelling the rallies of myriad opposition supporters. Anticipating an escalation of violence, bloggers report that foreigners and NGO workers are leaving the country in droves.
But there is hope. Attached to 30,000 Congolese policemen are 19,000 United Nations and European Union troops and 5,000 international observers who wll oversee the largest and most expensive election assistance mission in the world with $400 million price tag. Still, political violence continues to escalate throughout the country. The likelihood of an October 15 presidential runoffs is high, which means that election results will not be announced until the end of November. For the time being we invite our readers to raise questions and debate:
Can the fragile peace that has temporarily been brokered between political parties, the government, and the militias survive? Regional peace requires a stable Congo. The country has one of the world's largest stores of copper, cobalt and uranium. Conflict and crisis-ridden countries such as Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda and Zimbabwe are all intimately linked to Congo and its profitable natural endowments. The newly elected government will be responsible for organizing the extraction of these fought-over resources, reducing massive corruption, weeding out militias in the eastern Congo and protecting against negative influences from its neighbors Rwanda and Uganda.
This is the time to clean out messy politics. But elections in countries such as the Central African Republic, Chad, Ethiopia and Kenya have put (often incumbent) authoritarian regimes in power. In Congo, by contrast, no former dictators are in the running. Choices are many and the races are close. There are incentives for political players in Congo to stay the course of democratization. If the Congo is successful in the coming years, it could serve as an example to other regions of the world battling dictators and endemic civil war.
Campaigns ended on Friday, and presidential candidates have already begun grand finale rallies in Kinshasa. Still, outside attention to the nuances of this race will remain critical - not only to put pressure on violent political groups, but also to stay attuned for lessons that could be applied to Central Africa.
-Amar Bakshi contributed to this article.
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Comments (3)
I do not believe that one election will transform Congo into a democratic nation, despite the epithet. And the numerous foreign interests that are at play cannot allow for a "fully" free and fair electoral process. I, for one, have lost the naive notion that there is ever a free elections in any African country that has not had some ravenous revolution, or some drastic change, like South Africa, or Mali... and even then.
I see it as somewhat of a catch-22: To create a democratic nation, we need a prior and internalized experience of democracy... that we do not have (at least not in the near past). So what can we do? I believe that we have no choice but to tolerate an imperfect process, with imperfect results, but that allows the people to get a sense of ownership in their own country. People who have been oppressed and rendered subservient, will then gain confidence in their power within the system. But we have to start somewhere, and in that light, the elections of July 30th were a wonderful first step in the right direction. It may not lead to a short-term monumental transformation, as the people who are somewhat pre-chosen to win are the same bunch ruling the country now. But these same people will now have to deal with new restrictions on their power, as well as a newly-empowered, civic and vigilant population.
That is not bad, for a start. It is not perfect, and my people will have to suffer a bit longer (something they do not deserve), and the Westerners/Chinese/South Africans that are exploiting the coltan and other minerals, at very little cost to them (therefore very big profit) will not make things easy, and they will try (like every lobby, in every country, even in the US) to influence elections in their favor. But we have to start somewhere, don't we?
August 1, 2006 4:47 AM | Report Offensive Comments
Posted on August 1, 2006 04:47
If the elections in Congo pass peacefully should Congo be considered a free democracy, in my opinion no.
The reasons are as follows:
1. The proportion of the population who will actually vote will probably be well less than 50%.
2. Most people will not really have any idea about the people they are actually voting for.
3. Even though international observers will work to ensure that no vote rigging takes place at the stations there will almost certainly be co-ersion of people from remote villages before they go to the poles.
The important thing to understand is that free elections represent a critical step on the route towards a free democracy and not the end of the process. The true test of the new goverment will be its level of commitment to providing free education to all because only an educated population can make educated decisions about their governance.
One way to try to ensure that the new government does the right things, such as providing a basic level of free medical care and free schooling, would be the continued spotlight of international media. Unfortunately this will not happen as the fickle media moves on to new stories, the worst example being US TV news who are more interested in Mel Gibson's latest run in with the police.
July 30, 2006 11:47 PM | Report Offensive Comments
Posted on July 30, 2006 23:47
Note to PostGlobal: Let me suggest that you make an effort to have the next iteration of PostGlobal's software platform include either larger fonts generally or (even better) a user's option to view larger fonts. I cannot be the only reader who finds the very small fonts in stories like this one challenging, especially when posts are not broken up into paragraphs.
July 30, 2006 3:39 PM | Report Offensive Comments
Posted on July 30, 2006 15:39