DRC ELECTION CAMPAIGN UPDATE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KINSHASA 001603

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV KDEM CG ELECTIONS
SUBJECT: DRC ELECTION CAMPAIGN UPDATE

REF: KINSHASA 1578


1. (U) Summary: Four days into the DRC's second-round
presidential campaign, preparations are on track for the
October 29 vote. Ballots and voting materials are being
delivered, while training of poll workers is entering its
final stages. The general mood of the country remains calm,
although several scattered incidents of limited violence have
taken place. End summary.

--------------
LOGISTICS ON TRACK
--------------


2. (U) Officials of the DRC's Independent Electoral
Commission told representatives of international donors on
October 17 that preparations for the October 29 presidential
run-off and provincial assembly elections are well underway
with no major logistical problems. Flavien Misoni, the head
of the CEI's Bureau of National Operations, said all ballots,
tabulation sheets, and other paperwork have been delivered on
time to the 209 distribution sites across the country.


3. (U) The chiefs of voting centers have just finished their
own training sessions with CEI and MONUC personnel. During
the next week they will transport the election materials to
the 50,045 voting stations, and begin training the nearly
250,000 poll workers. The CEI began delivering election kits
and ballots October 16 to the 8,523 voting stations in
Kinshasa, and expects to complete work here before October 27.


4. (SBU) Misoni said one minor problem that has arisen in the
last week concerns the payment of salaries to electoral
agents. In a few locations in the provinces of Orientale and
Katanga, the heads of voting centers are refusing to deliver
campaign materials because they claim they have not received
their salaries, nor those of workers under their supervision.


5. (SBU) According to Misoni, the agency charged with
distributing the funds gave the money to the wrong CEI
officials. Instead of the heads of the voting centers, the
funds were given to those charged with training them, despite
clear instructions from the Commission. Misoni said
officials in Kinshasa are working to resolve the situation,
adding that it should not have a significant impact on the
electoral calendar or the delivery of material in these areas.


6. (U) On October 16 the government of Angola extended the
lease of four helicopters to the CEI for the transport of
materials in the interior of the country. The Angolan
ambassador to the DRC said the helicopters would be at the
disposal of the Commission until November 15 to assist in the
collection of ballots after the vote. The helicopters were
first put into service in early August to aid the Commission
in retrieving material after the first round elections July

30.

--------------
BEMBA REFUSES TO CAMPAIGN IN EASTERN DRC
--------------


7. (U) Yves Kisombe, a spokesman for Vice President
Jean-Pierre Bemba, told MONUC-sponsored Radio Okapi October
16 that Bemba will not campaign in eastern DRC due to
security concerns. Kisombe said unspecified security
conditions in that part of the country had not yet been
resolved. He said that security is not just a concern for
Bemba, noting that President Kabila did not travel to the
provinces Bandundu or Equateur (both with strong Bemba
support) because of a lack of security. Kisombe called on
both camps to ensure that tolerance is encouraged throughout
the country.

-------------- -
ISOLATED INCIDENTS IN OPENING DAYS OF CAMPAIGN
-------------- -


8. (U) A handful of security incidents have occurred since
the presidential campaign opened at midnight on October 13
(reftel). In Mbandaka, the provincial capital of Equateur,
supporters of Bemba and Kabila clashed October 14 after a
PPRD campaign rally. According to news reports, fistfights
broke out between the partisans of both camps after alleged
PPRD supporters tore down posters of Bemba outside MLC party
headquarters. One PPRD supporter was reportedly seriously
wounded in the incident. One MLC partisan was arrested by

KINSHASA 00001603 002 OF 002


the police the same day in Mbandaka after violating the
campaign code of conduct, reportedly using hate speech during
a local radio interview.


9. (U) Also on October 14, members of the Unified Lumumbist
Party (PALU) in Kinshasa were harassed by a group of
"shegues" (Congolese street gangs) in the city's downtown
area. A PALU spokesman said his party was leaving a regular
meeting at the French embassy when they were set upon by a
group of shegues. Police arrived several minutes later to
break up the incident, which left one of the assailants
injured. PALU has officially formed a coalition to support
President Kabila in the second-round election.


10. (U) On October 16, Kabila and Bemba supporters were
involved in a security incident in Lodja, approximately 550
miles east of Kinshasa, in Eastern Kasai province. CEI
provincial coordinator Abbe Alain Lomandja told us that
during a meeting of the Union for the Nation (Bemba's
political alliance),supporters from the Alliance for the
Presidential Majority (AMP, the pro-Kabila coalition) entered
the stadium where the rally was taking place and began
stoning the participants.


11. (U) Lomandja said three police officers and three
civilians were wounded -- two seriously -- during the fight.
While the situation in Lodja on October 17 was calm, Lomandja
said the AMP was planning on holding a protest march against
the recent attack on She Okitundu in London last week. He
added that a local radio station owned by Bemba was also
broadcasting "hate messages."
MEECE