DRC ELECTIONS: SUPREME COURT REMOVES BEMBA ALLY

UNCLAS KINSHASA 001714 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV KDEM CG ELECTIONS SUBJECT: DRC ELECTIONS: SUPREME COURT REMOVES BEMBA ALLY FROM NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ¶1. (U) The DRC's Supreme Court overturned the July 30 election to the National Assembly of a close ally of Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba November 2 on grounds of voter intimidation and fraud. Roger Lumbala, president of the RCD/N political party, had his victory annulled after the Court found he and a colleague had conspired to steal witness accreditation badges with the intent of confusing voters in the Eastern Kasai district of Miabi. The Court awarded the seat to Joseph Lumbala, an independent candidate who received the next highest number of votes. ¶2. (U) Joseph Lumbala had brought the complaint before the court September 8, charging that Roger Lumbala and a former member of his militia stole 17 political party witness accreditation badges and gave them to their supporters to intimidate polling station officials and to confuse voters into choosing Roger Lumbala over Joseph Lumbala. Joseph Lumbala alleged fraud was the reason he received fewer votes than Roger Lumbala at those 17 stations, while considerably outpolling him in the rest of the district. ¶3. (U) The Court stated it had verified the allegations through the testimony of the head of a voting center and the leader of a group of election observers. It ruled that while the absence of witnesses is not sufficient cause to invalidate the vote, it was justified in this case because the witnesses were forcefully excluded from the electoral process specifically to disadvantage a competing candidate. Such irregularities, the Court said, had a determining influence on the results in the 17 polling stations affected. ¶4. (U) The RCD/N is allied with Bemba's Union for the Nation alliance in the National Assembly. The loss of Roger Lumbala's seat will not affect the balance of power in the Assembly, and Joseph Lumbala is reportedly not aligned with either Bemba or Kabila. ¶5. (SBU) It is unclear whether Roger Lumbala will, or can, challenge the ruling. There are no apparent provisions in the DRC's electoral law for an appeal in such cases. MONUC political officers told us that Roger Lumbala failed to appear and did not argue his case before the Court, but it is unknown if the Court failed to notify him or whether he chose not to attend. MEECE