Congolese President, Joseph Kabila |
Corneille Nangaa, Chairman of the Democratic Republic of Congo,
Electoral commission (CENI), on Thursday said 46 million voters have so
far been registered by the umpire.
Repeated stalling of the election has raised tensions across the
Democratic Republic of Congo, triggering street protests and encouraging
armed rebellions, especially since
Kabila refused to step down when his
mandate expired at the end of 2016.
Scores have been killed by security forces at protests in the capital
Kinshasa, including several in demonstrations organised by the Roman
Catholic Church since the end of last year to demand that the election
go ahead.
“A total of 46,021,454 voters had been registered, 12 per cent more
than expected. Only the Congolese diaspora is left, and registration for
them would start in July.
“CENI is working to ensure the elections happen on December 23,” he said.
Mr. Kabila, who has been in power since his father was shot dead in
office in 2001, denies clinging to power and has blamed the schedule
slipping on problems registering voters in the vast, heavily forested
country.
Completing registration is a major step towards the election going
ahead, although it is unclear to what extent this will soothe tensions
among a skeptical populace.
Mr. Kabila’s opponents suspect him of seeking a referendum to change
Congo’s constitution to enable him to run for more than two terms, as
the leaders of neighbouring Uganda, Rwanda and Congo Republic have.
In a news conference on Friday, Kabila declined to confirm or deny this, as in the past.
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