ELECTORAL COMMISSION TO ASK FOR AN EXTENSION OF

C O N F I D E N T I A L KINSHASA 000718 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/28/2015 TAGS: PGOV KDEM PHUM PREL CG SUBJECT: ELECTORAL COMMISSION TO ASK FOR AN EXTENSION OF THE TRANSITION Classified By: Poloff Gons Nachman for Reasons 1.4 B and D ¶1. (U) The President of the Independent Electoral Commission (CEI),Abbe Apollinaire Malu Malu, gave a press conference in Kinshasa April 28 to announce that the CEI would ask Parliament for an extension of the transition as provided by Article 196 of the transition's Constitution. Malu Malu said the written request will be delivered to the National Assembly and the Senate today. Comment -------------- ¶2. (C) As originally envisioned, Malu Malu's announcement was supposed to follow the conclusion of the current constitutional debate in the National Assembly, and was to have included the public unveiling of the electoral calendar. However, under pressure from the EU to make the announcement in advance of the arrival of Louis Michel and Javier Solana April 29, Malu Malu jumped the gun and made half the announcement envisioned, i.e., that he will request officially the extension of the transition but without the mitigating influence of having completed the constitution and being able to outline the electoral calendar. Popular reaction to his announcement could, therefore, be far less positive than hoped since it can easily be used by those elements -- such as the UDPS -- who already are trying to destablize the transition as further evidence that the government is merely trying to maintain its existence without moving toward elections. The announcement is also essentially an empty gesture, given that Malu Malu will not make his official presentation to the plenary (which is a required step to launch the debate) until after the constitutional debate is concluded, hopefully sometime next week. DOUGHERTY