(3 minutes read)
With six months to go before the elections, the campaign is shaping up to be very tense in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The opposition is raging against a regime determined to stay in power, against a backdrop of conflict in the east and social crisis.
With six months to go before the elections, the campaign is shaping up to be very tense in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The opposition is raging against a regime determined to stay in power, against a backdrop of conflict in the east and social crisis.
A single-round presidential election is scheduled for 20 December in this vast country of some 100 million inhabitants, along with elections for national and provincial deputies and local councilors. Félix Tshisekedi, President since January 2019, is running for a second five-year term.
Having experienced this at the time of the previous elections, which were postponed for two years, some Congolese still have doubts about the organisation of the vote in time and are expecting what they call a “landslide”.
But the authorities insist that the elections will indeed take place “within the constitutional timeframe” and, above all, the National Electoral Commission (CENI) has so far kept to its timetable.
Read Also:
https://trendsnafrica.com/drc-president-felix-tshisekedi-in-china-to-renegotiate-mining-rights/
https://trendsnafrica.com/botswana-and-drc-sign-an-mou-on-bilateral-trade-and-investments/
The police violently repressed one of their marches on 20 May, leading to numerous protests from the powerful Catholic Church, civil society, and the international community, with a declaration from around fifteen embassies calling for “competitive, peaceful, inclusive and transparent” elections. The DRC has a very rich subsoil, but two-thirds of its inhabitants live below the poverty line.
