DRC ELECTIONS: ELECTORAL COMMISSION POSTPONES

UNCLAS KINSHASA 000021

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV KDEM CG ELECTIONS
SUBJECT: DRC ELECTIONS: ELECTORAL COMMISSION POSTPONES
VOTING FOR SENATORS, GOVERNORS

REF: 05 KINSHASA 1853


1. (U) The DRC's Independent Electoral Commission (CEI) has
postponed the elections for the country's national senators,
governors and vice governors. According to CEI officials, the
elections were pushed back because of difficulties in
installing the newly-elected provincial assemblies.
Provincial representatives will now select senators and
governors at the end of January once the permanent leadership
structures of the eleven assemblies are installed January 15.


2. (U) Senate elections previously scheduled for January 7
are slated for January 19. Provincial deputies will elect 108
national senators, with eight representing Kinshasa and four
from each of the other 25 provinces. A total of 1,124
candidates are running for the Senate, and results will be
published January 20. The Senate is expected to convene
February 3.


3. (U) Elections for governors and vice governors will take
place January 27. Run-off elections, if no candidate receives
a majority in the first round, are set for January 30.
Gubernatorial elections had been previously scheduled for
January 16. A total of eleven governors and eleven vice
governors -- one for each of the current provinces -- will be
elected from among 152 candidates for both offices. Governors
and vice governors run on the same ticket and are also chosen
by the provincial assemblies. The CEI said results from these
elections will be announced February 7.


4. (SBU) The delay in the electoral calendar is partly the
result of logistical problems tied to the installation of the
provincial assemblies, which were elected October 30.
Provisional results from these elections were not announced
until early December, leaving the new deputies less than a
month to convene, begin drafting internal regulations, and
prepare for the elections of senators and governors. CEI
officials said that in many provinces, including Eastern
Kasai, Orientale and Katanga, the assemblies did not have
buildings where they could meet. Many offices which were
being used, officials said, often had no electricity and were
in various states of disrepair.


5. (SBU) Another factor which led to delays in standing up
the provincial assemblies was the selection of traditional
chiefs ("chefs coutumiers") as members of the provincial
assemblies. According to the DRC's electoral law, each
provincial assembly was to select a certain number of these
chiefs to ensure local representation of traditional
Congolese societies. The selection process for the chiefs was
neither well-planned nor well-publicized by the CEI, causing
confusion and dissent among the provincial deputies and the
chiefs themselves. Without including the chiefs in their
ranks, the assemblies could not legally proceed with
elections for senators and governors. CEI spokesman Dieudonne
Mirimo told us as of January 8 all the "chefs coutumiers"
have now been selected nationwide.
MEEC E