Election day in the Republic of Congo (DRC) kicked off with gunfire and violence, leaving at least 10 people dead and dozens wounded. Clashes between angry voters and agents of the electoral commission erupted in numerous polling stations, due to delays in voting, a lack of ballots, missing names on lists, and suspicions of fraud.
Later in the day the situation calmed down and the elections were generally called peaceful by the authorities. But some say more violence could explode after results are announced.
“People want the government to step down and if this government wins by treachery, there is going to be more violence. It is going to be a real bloodshed in this country,” says Fidel Bafilemba, field research consultant in Democratic Republic of Congo for the Enough Project of the Center for American Progress.
According to Bafilemba, peoples’ moods at the polling stations were varied, generally dividing along generational lines. The young were very enthusiastic and determined for change. They are angry with incumbent President Joseph Kabila and want revenge for the suffering they have endured for many years.
The elderly held more mixed feelings calling Kabila a peace builder—the man who united the DRC after years of civil war—despite being disappointed that he failed to keep his promise to improve peoples’ lives.
Overall the 2011 campaign was much more violent than the last round of elections 2006, which were the first since the end of the civil war in the central African nation. At that time people still had faith in Kabila, says Bafilemba, but this time people are disappointed and angry about the lack of progress.
The special representative of the United Nations secretary-general to the DRC, Roger Meece strongly condemned the violence that marred the end of this campaign period.
“It is regrettable and I am therefore calling on all the political leaders to exercise restraint and to accept the verdict of the polls,” he was quoted as saying in a U.N. statement.
At the same time, Meece expressed satisfaction with “the orderly and peaceful way that the voting process was being conducted.” He was particularly encouraged, he said, by the fact that officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) were performing their duties professionally.
According to CENI, in general everything at polling stations went smoothly, with the exception of several cases of missing names.
Presidential hopeful Vital Kamerhe, however, held a televised press conference alleging election fraud. Kamerhe said he had found ballots pre-marked in favor of Kabila, and ID cards with children’s photos, registered as legitimate voters.
The chairman of CENI at a press conference denied the allegations.
Eleven candidates vied for the presidency and nearly 19,000 ran for 500 seats in the National Assembly.
The DRC, the second biggest African country by territory, has 32 million registered voters out of population of 71.7 million people.
Provisional results of the presidential election are slated for Dec. 6 with the final results coming on Dec. 20. The results for the National Assembly are expected to be announced on Jan. 13.
