UDPS LEADERS IN EASTERN KASAI URGE VOTERS TO HEAD

UNCLAS KINSHASA 001562 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV KDEM CG ELECTIONS SUBJECT: UDPS LEADERS IN EASTERN KASAI URGE VOTERS TO HEAD TO POLLS REF: A. KINSHASA 1487 ¶B. KINSHASA 1508 ¶1. (U) Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS) leaders in Eastern Kasai province -- the stronghold of the party and home province of its president Etienne Tshisekedi -- issued a communique October 6 encouraging all Congolese to participate "massively" in the October 29 presidential runoff and provincial assembly elections. The party has heretofore boycotted the DRC electoral process. The communique, signed by UDPS/Mbuji-Mayi spokesman Patrice Kabemba, stated that those who have a voter registration card can go vote. The party itself, however, will remain neutral and will not endorse either President Joseph Kabila or Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba. ¶2. (U) UDPS/Eastern Kasai federal president Pierre N'sana said the party released this message to respond to the local population's insistence on knowing the UDPS position on the forthcoming elections. N'sana insisted, however, that the UDPS still believes Tshisekedi and the party have been excluded from the elections by the Independent Electoral Commission and the international community. Those who did register to vote, he said -- despite the UDPS's instructions not to do so -- will be free to vote for any candidate of their choosing. ¶3. (U) The latest announcement follows the public feuding between national-level UDPS leaders (reftels),who have split on whether to support Kabila or Bemba in the upcoming election, or remain neutral. Tshisekedi himself has still not made any public statements regarding the party's position or strategy for the October 29 vote. ¶4. (SBU) Comment: The declaration from the Eastern Kasai branch of the UDPS is further evidence of the growing confusion within the ranks of the party. UDPS supporters in Eastern Kasai have been party hard-liners, adamantly refusing to take part in the election process. Attitudes, however, are evidently changing in the province -- including in Mbuji-Mayi -- with thoughts that the long-standing UDPS strategy may only further marginalize the region. Still, N'sana is trying to have it both ways by criticizing the entire process while encouraging people to vote, even though the UDPS previously claimed none of its supporters were registered voters. The Eastern Kasai announcement is also likely a better indicator of the party's true position now on elections, as rarely do the party's provincial leaders make any move without the authorization of UDPS officials in Kinshasa. Absent any direct word from Tshisekedi, though, the level of UDPS participation in the elections is likely to be relatively low, especially with no UDPS candidates running for office. End comment. DOUGHERTY