VOTER REGISTRATION CENTER IN KASAI ORIENTAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L KINSHASA 001289

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08//10/2015
TAGS: PGOV KDEM KPKO PREL CG
SUBJECT: VOTER REGISTRATION CENTER IN KASAI ORIENTAL
ATTACKED


Classified By: Poloff Gons Nachman for Reasons 1.4 B and D


1. (SBU) An unidentified individual set fire to a voter
registration center in Mbuji Mayi, Kasai Oriental, August 9,
causing slight injuries to four people, and minor damage to
the registration equipment, Independent Electoral Commission
(CEI) officials said. According to these officials, around 11
am, someone climbed a back wall and threw gasoline at the
registration center, lit a fire, and fled. Electoral workers
and the local population promptly put down the fire. Four
people waiting to be registered suffered minor burns to their
legs and some cables were damaged.


2. (SBU) Although the police are investigating the incident
and no one has claimed responsibility for the attack, the
voter registration center is located in the same neighborhood
as Etienne Tshisekedi's Union for Democracy and Social
Progress' (UDPS) provincial headquarters. CEI officials and
the local population suspect UDPS militants are responsible
for trying to burn down the registration center in Mbuji
Mayi. (Note: UDPS leaders in Kasai Oriental have called on
their supporters to boycott the voter registration process as
"flawed". According to CEI officials, however, most UDPS
supporters in Kinshasa registered to vote and they are doing
so in Kasai Oriental as well. End Note.)

Comment
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3. (C) The attack against the voter registration center in
Mbuji Mayi, along with UDPS' calls for a boycott of voter
registration in Kasai Oriental are part of a UDPS effort to
derail the electoral process. The overwhelming majority of
Congolese, however, have expressed their support for the
electoral process and are unlikely to follow UDPS' lead.
Tshisekedi is running out of time to join the process and

SIPDIS
risks further isolation from the international community and
many potential Congolese voters if he continues to pursue an
obstructionist policy opposed to long-desired DRC democratic
elections.
MEECE