DRC ELECTIONS: RUBERWA DECLARES HIMSELF NEUTRAL

UNCLAS KINSHASA 001573 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV KDEM CG ELECTIONS SUBJECT: DRC ELECTIONS: RUBERWA DECLARES HIMSELF NEUTRAL FOR SECOND ROUND ¶1. (U) Vice President Azarias Ruberwa announced October 12 that he and his party -- the Rally for Congolese Democracy (RCD) -- will remain neutral in the upcoming presidential runoff election between President Joseph Kabila and Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba. The RCD's Founder's College released a statement after meeting in Kinshasa October 12 stating that the party has opted for a position of "positive neutrality." Although the RCD did not endorse either candidate, it called on its members to vote, and to do so according to their consciences. ¶2. (U) The RCD is the last major Congolese political party to declare its position in the forthcoming electoral contest. It is also the only major party (aside from the UDPS, which is boycotting elections) not to align with either Kabila or Bemba. ¶3. (SBU) Comment: The RCD has little to offer either candidate in any case, as it won just 15 seats in the 500-member National Assembly, and as Ruberwa himself captured less than two percent of the vote in the first-round presidential election. End comment. DOUGHERTY