DRC on high alert

According to Reuters, DR Congo’s electoral officials struggled to finish counting votes, sending helicopters to remote polling stations in an effort to meet a midnight deadline.
During election, officials had to bring in more than 80 aircraft to get ballots distributed to some 64 000 polling stations in a country two-thirds the size of Western Europe, and poor infrastructure limited by decades of underdevelopment and seven years of war has made counting equally slow.

A delay in issuing full preliminary results from the vote could further complicate an election already marred by deadly violence, logistical problems and allegations of fraud.
The head of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Daniel Ngoy Mulunda, indicated early yesterday that the commission, which has been plagued by delays and logistical problems throughout the process, may not make its deadline.

“First of all we’re going to make sure that all the results sheets have arrived and that we have all the information.
“If not, we won’t be able to give you more than a partial report,” he told journalists.

The electoral commission set the deadline for a full preliminary count of December 6, the fifth anniversary of President Joseph Kabila’s inauguration, and the day the opposition says marks the end of his constitutional term.

UN-led diplomatic efforts are under way to allow a delay to the results if needed, according to sources.
Partial preliminary results issued so far, representing nearly 70 percent of the ballots cast, give Kabila a 10-point lead over his chief rival, Etienne Tshisekedi.
At least 18 people have been killed in election-related violence so far, according to US-based Human Rights Watch, and a senior member of Kabila’s camp said the government will have to call in the army if protests become “too chaotic”.

Thousands of soldiers patrolled Kinshasa and other Congolese cities amid fears that Tuesday’s expected announcement of full results could stir unrest.
Some 20 000 soldiers have been deployed in Kinshasa, and convoys of large trucks carrying armed police with gas masks could be seen on the capital’s unusually quiet streets.

The elections are the second to take place since back-to-back wars from 1996 to 2003.
The central African giant – the continent’s second largest country – has 67,8 million people and 32 million registered voters.

The Supreme Court has until December 17 to review the result and declare the official winner.
Inauguration day is set for December 20 while provisional parliamentary results are due in mid-January. – Reuters/AFP/The Herald.