ELECTORAL LAW PROMULGATED; FIRST ROUND OF

C O N F I D E N T I A L KINSHASA 000410 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/10/2016 TAGS: PGOV KDEM KPKO CG SUBJECT: ELECTORAL LAW PROMULGATED; FIRST ROUND OF ELECTIONS JUNE 18 REF: A. KINSHASA 291 ¶B. KINSHASA 354 Classified By: PolOff CBrown, reasons 1.4 b/d. ¶1. (U) President Joseph Kabila signed the DRC's long-awaited electoral law the evening of March 8 and officially promulgated the document March 9. The electoral law lays out the conditions under which the DRC will hold its first national democratic elections in more than 40 years. With its promulgation, candidates will now begin registering to run in presidential, legislative and provincial elections and launch their respective campaigns. ¶2. (U) Independent Electoral Commission (CEI) President Abbe Apollinaire Malu Malu held a late-night press conference March 9 to announce that National Assembly and first-round presidential elections will be held June 18. The CEI President also said candidates for presidential and legislative elections could begin registering March 10. Registration of candidacies will end March 23. According to the CEI's electoral calendar, presidential and legislative candidate lists will be published between April 5-9. The electoral campaigns for president and the National Assembly will run from May 18 to June 16. The CEI calendar envisions that results for the first round of presidential elections will be announced July 14 after certification by the Supreme Court. For legislative elections, the CEI predicts provisional results will be available by July 18. ¶3. (C) The decision to hold elections June 18 followed a long CIAT meeting March 9, attended by Malu Malu and CEI officers, characterized by lively discussion. As advised by technical experts and UNDP, Malu Malu was prepared to announce the first round of elections was to be held June 25, five days before the expiration of the current transitional government. The CIAT ambassadors, however, impressed upon Malu Malu the necessity of ensuring elections take place as early as possible. The CIAT called upon the elections experts and the UNDP to devise a logistical plan that can meet the June 18 deadline. ¶4. (U) The electoral law establishes two distinct voting systems: a simple majority vote for president, and a mixed proportional/majority system for legislative and provincial elections. In the presidential election, if no candidate receives an absolute majority, a second round between the top two candidates will be held. The winner is elected for a five-year term, which can be renewed once. ¶5. (U) The future Parliament will be composed of a National Assembly with 500 deputies from 169 electoral districts. The Senate will have 108 members -- 4 from each of the 25 provinces and 8 from Kinshasa -- named by provincial assemblies. Deputies and senators will each serve five-year terms. ¶6. (C) Candidates for provincial assembly seats will be allowed to register April 10-30. Concerning provincial elections, Malu Malu said at a previous CIAT meeting that elections at that level might have to take place 70 days after the first round of presidential and National Assembly elections. The CIAT told Malu Malu such a proposition was unacceptable as it came far too late after June 30. Malu Malu told the CIAT March 9 the CEI was still working to compress the electoral calendar leading up to provincial elections. He said he was worried in particular about the complexities involved in counting the votes from all three elections (presidential, legislative and provincial) simultaneously, and the potential for errors involved in doing so. Malu Malu also said he did not want to announce a date for provincial elections now because they would necessarily have to occur after June 30. ¶7. (SBU) Comment: At long last, an electoral calendar has been put into place. While the time to prepare for and hold elections has been considerably compressed, the Congolese can now point to a date for beginning the process of electing a new government. Elections officials will face significant logistical and organizational difficulties in the coming months, which could risk delaying voting further. However, members of CIAT and the international community will continue to hold the CEI and international experts accountable for keeping to the announced electoral calendar. End comment. MEECE