DR of Congo: UN officials welcome election date, call for stability in the east

As the United Nation’s envoy to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) today welcomed the setting of a date for the first-ever general election there, the top UN peacekeeping official met with leaders in the eastern part of the country on establishing stability in the region.

The UN Development Programme (UNDP) reports that President Joseph Kabila has put into effect a new electoral law that sets 18 June as the date of the first election in the DRC’s 46-year history as an independent nation.

“This is the closest that the Congolese people have been to a credible election since independence in 1960,” William Swing, the Special Representative in the DRC of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said.

“They have the largest and most sustained international support since independence, including the largest UN peacekeeping mission in the history of UN peacekeeping,” he noted. “We are encouraged simply because of the sheer enthusiasm of the people, who are determined to get back to conditions of stability and legitimacy of institutions.”

The elections are seen as cementing the DRC’s transition from a six-year civil war that cost 4 million lives through fighting and the attendant humanitarian catastrophe.

The preparations for the 18 June vote for a president and parliament already constitute the largest and most complex UN electoral-assistance mission ever undertaken, the UNDP said.

An estimated $270 million is being invested in voter registration and other preparations for the historic vote. The Congolese government has pledged $40 million to support the effort.

UNDP said it will provide essential technical and logistical support for the country’s Independent Election Committee (IEC), including procurement of election materials and the training of elections personnel.

In the militia-ridden eastern Ituri district, in which stability has yet to be assured, Under Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Marie Guéhenno, held a series of meetings with local authorities and civil society representatives.

He stressed the need for a stable environment in the province, and discussed the issue of sexual violence against women.

From Bunia, Mr. Guéhenno will travel to Goma, a UN spokesman said today.

Since 1999 the UN Mission in the DRC (MONUC), with nearly 17,000 military personnel, has been helping to stem instability fomented by not only internal factions but also by those of neighbouring countries.

In the east, most recently UN peacekeepers, backed by armoured vehicles and helicopters, supported DRC army troops in dislodging rebels from neighbouring Rwanda occupying parts of South Kivu province. MONUC troops were also helping army operations against rebel militias in Ituri, further north.